Breaking the Glass Ceiling
by MintiNeko
Summary: Between masquerading as a boy, school, the Shinobi games, an arrogant captain and her crazy friends, it's amazing Tenten can survive. AU. NejiTen.
1. The Plan

**Breaking the Glass Ceiling**

**A/N: **She's the Man is one of my favorite movies, and I can't help but think of what chaos would occur if Tenten disguised herself and transferred, along with Sakura and Ino.

**Summary: **When the Kunoichi team is cut and the principal doesn't allow the girls to mix with the Shinobi, there is only one plan that makes sense. Disguising yourself as a boy and sneaking into the rival school with your best friends to join that school's team to destroy the other team. All would be well, if only the captain and his friends weren't so suspicious of their plan.** NejiTen, SasuSaku, NaruHina, ShikaIno**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto

* * *

Tenten was not a temperamental person, though she had her moments. Not like Sakura, who could switch between sweet and raging in the same breath, or Ino, who was overly passionate about everything. She wasn't as calm as Temari, or as shy as Hinata. She knew her opinions but didn't voice them without reason. 

But whenever something really and truly angered her, she let it out.

"IT'S NOT FAIR!" shouted Tenten angrily as she stormed around her room. "We're as good as half of the boys on that team and even better than the other half, so why can't we play! It's all thanks to that stupid, pig-headed, idiotic--" her language promptly went downhill from there.

Sakura looked up from the book she was reading, one eyebrow twitching at the choice of curses, at her furious friend. She knew and understood Tenten's wrath and disappointment, but seeing the girl so out of control was discomfiting, not to mention the repeated insults and wails was getting more than a little old.

"SO THAT _JERK_ SAYS WE CAN'T JOIN THE SHINOBI TEAM ALL BECAUSE WE'RE—"

"--Because we're girls. It's not fair, it's not right, but it's true." Sakura stated succinctly, sick to death of Tenten's unnatural behavior "and stop mauling your poor bedroom, it has done nothing wrong." Reluctantly, Tenten stopped, looking around guiltily at the destruction she had caused.

"Heh, oops." She said sheepishly, noting the shredded posters and overturned pieces of furniture, with contents of said furniture strewn across the room. About the only item untouched by her wrath was her bed, and only because Sakura was lying on it. She yanked a pillow out from behind Sakura's head (eliciting a "_Hey!_" from the pink headed girl) and threw herself on the end of her bed.

"It's still not fair," Tenten mumbled into her pillow. Curse all the masochist, sexist teachers to hell and back! At least her old childhood teacher, Gai-sensei, would have given her a chance, and would have tried to make sure she succeeded; at least once she insisted that doing so would show off her youth. He won't have raised a fuss about girls joining _any_ team.

Childhood is always so easy. No puberty, no responsibilities, and no problems associated with being a mature female.

Sakura patted Tenten on the back sympathetically. "I'm sorry that the Sand Kunoichi team was cut, Tenten, but who knew that the coach would be so--" she thought for a moment, "--rude about girls joining the Shinobi team. He even turned down his own daughter's reasoning."

Tenten laughed a little shakily, "Unfortunately, I'll bet he was used to Temari's temper tantrums, and knew how to ignore or defuse them." She suddenly grinned sadistically "Ooh, but I wonder how the joint efforts of Temari's and Ino's impressive voice workings will do?"

"I still can't believe we had to resort to that…" remarked Sakura, shaking her head disapprovingly despite the small smile on her lips.

"Well, when we tried to use you as the voice of reason, I knew things would get a little extreme."

"We could have had Ino be the voice of reason." Sakura suggested nonchalantly.

"Touché, but that is really going overboard! It's almost like having Hinata act assertive.'

"If Hinata acted assertive, then she would have snagged that guy that she's always murmuring about. I wish we knew something other than what he looks like…" Not having Hinata at school with them wasn't easy, but her father always wanted the best for her, and thus enrolled her in Konoha Acadamy, the best in the city.

"Well, we're kinda getting off topic, but maybe Hinata's academy allows girls to join the shinobi team, and that would give us an excuse to be with her. AND to kick the Sand Shinobi's sorry behinds HARD!!"

"Maybe that won't be necessary, everyone else is outside, undoubtedly with the coach's answer." true to Sakura's words, Tenten could just hear the unmistakable voices of their blonde friends, with the fainter, sweet voice of Hinata also carrying through the window.

Now that her wrath had been spent, Tenten felt considerably more optimistic. Maybe the coach had suddenly decided to put his heart to use, and granted the Sand Kunoichi a chance to try out for the Sand Shinobi.

Her hopes were crushed the instant she opened the door of her apartment and saw Temari and Ino's desolate expressions.

"He won't do it," Ino announced, flopping onto Tenten's couch in a dramatic gesture of defeat. "The conniving idiot absolutely refuses to allow us on the team. _Girls are much too gentle to be able to handle boy sparring, they lack the attitude, and they are simply too emotionally delicat_e." she mimicked scornfully. She was promptly whacked on the head with a pillow, courtesy of Temari.

"OW! What was that for?!"

"Insulting my dad," said Temari in her deep, elegant voice, "although I do agree. If he wasn't the principal, I'd suggest you fight, but it looks like he's a hopeless case. Move over." Temari pushed Ino over to make room for herself on the couch before sitting down and crossing her legs. "Oi, Tenten, could you make some chow mein for us? We forgot to eat lunch."

"Sure, I'll get right on it."

"Sorry that I couldn't have been there to support you guys," said Hinata softly, seating herself at the small table in the connecting kitchen. Tenten, who had begun the preparations for chow mein, paused temporarily to pat the girl sympathetically on the back.

"It's okay; I don't think it would have made much of a difference." Tenten assured her, "It made no difference when Gaara said that if we were good enough, he would have let us on the team."

"He's never liked Gaara though." Sakura reminded as she walked into the room, "I think that he only made it worse. And I wouldn't trust the rest of the team's judgment calls. Ooh, chow mein!" she wandered over to see what Tenten was cooking.

"That's true," agreed Temari, "And at least he let you know before school ended, it would have been awful if you showed up next year and had been excited about it all summer. Doesn't make it fair, though." She grabbed the remote and began to aimlessly flip through the channels, eventually stopping at some romantic comedy marathon. "Right now, I say we just forget about it, and wait till our tempers cool."

"That sounds like a good idea, couldn't agree with you more, Miss Voodoo." said Ino, stifling a yawn

"That's a first," Sakura remarked to no one in particular, "Temari and Ino-pig finally agree without disagreeing." She sat down with her back against the couch and cracked open her book at its bookmark, ignoring her two friends' indignant gasps.

"Stop calling me pig, forehead girl! And what do you mean, 'agree without disagreeing'?" demanded Ino angrily

"You and Temari always decide on the same thing, then argue that you didn't agree, when in reality, you both are very similar." Sakura stated, while Hinata hid a smile and Tenten chuckled.

"We aren't the same at all!" insisted Temari

"Of course you are," called Tenten from the kitchen, "Your hair, clothes, favorite colors, and temperamental personalities are all alike."

"Are not!" the blondes yelled simultaneously, before glaring at each other in outrage.

"STOP THAT!" they shouted in perfect harmony.

"SHUT UP!!!" Still doing it…

"REALLY, STOP THAT!!!" and so on and so forth…

Eventually the bickering escalated into play fighting and Hinata and Sakura were forced to intervene. Tenten was spared that lovely task thanks to the chow mein, and by the time she had finished cooking, Temari and Ino were sitting in chairs in different parts of the room, pouting outrageously with their faces to the walls.

"Aw, did Sakura give widdle Ino and Temahwee a thyme out?" asked Tenten in an annoying, singsong voice as she passed out the steaming plates of noodles and chopsticks.

"Nah, they did it to themselves, this time around." Said Sakura, who along with Hinata had claimed the couch and both girls were now avidly watching the TV movie. Tenten settled herself on a large pillow cushion on the ground and also began to watch the movie.

Though she enjoyed it, her mind kept wandering back to the Shinobi team. It was indescribably infuriating at how neither she nor any of her friends were allowed to try out for the boys' team. It was clear that their skill exceeded the boys' own (with a few exceptions, namely Gaara) and it was thanks to them the Sand Kunoichi team had won for three years in a row.

"Hey Hinata, does your school have a kunoichi team?" Tenten asked without thinking.

"No, we have mixed teams, but the boys are the only ones that make Chuunin. Most girls are merely Genin, we have a couple of female Jounin instructors, but no female Chuunins." Responded Hinata, giving Tenten her full attention.

"So basically it's an unwritten rule that girls stay out of sight while the boys bask in the sunlight?" asked Tenten sarcastically.

"Wh-what do you mean, Tenten?"

"Honestly, it's so unfair. I hate all of that 'men make better shinobi than women' crap. Look at Tsunade!"

"My principal?" asked Hinata

"Yeah, she's a woman, and one of the best shinobi out there!" Tenten continued her rant; ignoring the worried stares the other girls were giving her. "I mean, I know none of us can hold up in contests of brute strength against men. Sakura's the only exception, her and Tsunade, but we more than make up for it in brains, tactics, and strategy!"

"True," conceded Temari, "But several shinobi boys also have those traits, so the strength is what tilts the scales."

"Well, so does endurance," put in Ino "Strength is fine and dandy, but useless if you tire out before your opponent."

"Well said, Ino-pig."

"Thanks, your turn, forehead girl."

"No."

"Do it, or I will reveal the photos." Sakura glowered at the smug Ino before answering.

"…Fine. Look, Tenten," she addressed the older girl, "You have the speed, endurance, and agility that could put you in the elite ranks. But, you're the exception to the rule, like my strength. Even if the principal lets you be the exception, you will still be ridiculed, set up, and sabotaged by the people who don't want you on that team or want to keep you as a Genin. They'd do whatever they could to keep you downtrodden because they are such sexist_ pigs_." Hinata, Ino, and Temari politely applauded as Sakura made a mock bow from where she was sitting.

The frank, brutal speech hit Tenten across the head like a mallet. She knew that everything Sakura said was right, but still wished she could sweep it all away.

"I guess you're right, Sakura." Her head drooped, "but senior year is going to be awful. The kunoichi team was one of two things I liked about school." She began to collect the empty bowls and chopsticks and carried them to the kitchen.

"What's the other thing?" Ino called from her seat curiously.

"You, Sakura and Temari, of course." There was a collective "aww" from the aforementioned three girls. Hinata didn't say anything, merely thinking, the way she had been during the whole conversation.

A solution to her friends' problems had popped into her head, one that could help them all. But it was so ludicrous, so difficult, requiring secrets, lies, and a huge sacrifice from one of them. But at the same time there was a twisted sort of logic about it.

A tap on the shoulder jolted her from her thoughts. "Hinata, are you all right? You've been staring into space for the last five minutes."

"Y-yes, Sakura, I'm fine. I just had a silly idea." The instant the words left her mouth she wished she could take them back. The other girls in the room suddenly perked up, looking far too interested.

"An idea, huh?" mused Ino, twirling the ends of her fringe, "Would this idea by any chance, happen to have anything to do with our little problem?"

"M-maybe," again Hinata winced at the bad word choice. But she was a terrible liar, and judging by the look on Temari's face, her ridiculous solution would be extracted.

"Really?" said Temari lightly, "Well, what is so ridiculous about it? You're a sensible person, Hinata. It can't be that bad."

"Yes it can be."

"Then just tell us, we might be able to make sense from it." Said Sakura from next to her.

"I still don't think it's that important, besides, it's crazy enough to be a movie plot." She REALLY wished she didn't say that…

"Oh, really?" Ino crossed her arms, "Then stop being a basketcase and tell us, Hinata." At her tone the shy girl had no choice but to surrender.

"W-well, I was w-wondering; maybe you could transfer to Konoha and join the team _disguisedasaboy!_" Temari, Ino, and Sakura all blinked, trying to work out the last part of the statement.

Oddly enough, it was Tenten who worked it out first, despite being in the kitchen. "Where did you come up with _that_ Hinata?" The girl blushed and mumbled under her breath something about a "romantic comedy" and "figured it was worth a shot" before going back to her silence.

"So you're suggesting that one of us goes undercover as a boy? It's a thought." said Sakura, not incredulous the way Hinata thought she would, but thoughtful.

"Transferring wouldn't be hard," remarked Ino thoughtfully, "There's nothing left at Suna to keep my interest, and my parents would be thrilled if I got into Konoha Academy. And we all have talents to recommend ourselves with –Sakura has her brains, I have my traditional arts skills, and Tenten has her sports. We could apply for scholarships, or just have our parents pay for it."

"I could hack into the computers and forge recommendation letters from my father," offered Temari, "It won't pose much of a problem, though we'll have to tweak the records of whoever wants to be a guy."

"That would obviously be me," announced Tenten as she reentered the living room. "I'm the only one who could pull it off. After all, I have no parents, I live alone, and I'm not prone to overtly feminine behavior."

"You're volunteering?" It was clear from Ino's tone that she thought Tenten was joking.

"Well, Temari's in college—she can't do anything, Hinata already goes to the Acadamy, Sakura is too obvious and would have to dye her hair, and your characteristics are too overtly feminine to hide."

"All good points, but I thought we'd have to draw straws or something. Tomboyish as you are, I didn't think you'd willingly give up your feminity."

"No way! I'll be a girl whenever I can." declared Tenten

"Eh? Y-you're taking this _seriously_?" Hinata could understand Ino's enthusiasm, and even Sakura's a little, but Temari? And _Tenten_?

"Of course Hinata, we need to take affirmative action, and what better way to prove prejudices than to have girls and a boy-girl of equal skill make the team, and see if the boy-girl moves up while the girls are left behind?" asked Sakura.

_Somehow, she makes even that sound reasonable,_ thought Hinata incredulously while the other girls—yet again –mock applauded their pink-haired friend.

"Exactly!" Ino snapped her fingers, "And once we beat the Suna Shinobi, Tenten would be able to reveal her identity and that would be that! And since she's graduating after the year is up, she wouldn't be in much danger of backlash!" Ino sounded very pleased with her logic.

"Yeah, and what's even better is that you live close enough to take the bus, Tenten! You won't have to live in a dorm." Added Sakura, closing her book without bothering to replace her bookmark.

"I guess there was an advantage to living near the edge of town. But how would you guys get to school?" asked Tenten.

"Didn't you hear me? Ino and I would live in a dorm."

"Oh, right. What about actually getting in?" inquired Tenten

"Like I said before, I could hack." Stated Temari, "I'm not a computer major for nothing. It shouldn't be too hard, all of you girls have assets that would improve the school's rep. Not to mention, it'll be fun and give me something to enjoy while I'm slaving away in college."

The other four girls in the room shared a look.

"I take it that you're gonna turn Tenten into your newest pet project?" asked Sakura.

"Well, yes, but…I also want to rub this into my dad's face." Temari's face briefly darkened, but was quickly replaced by a grin. "Show him that just because he deems people worthless, that it doesn't mean they are." There was a brief, awkward silence. Temari didn't usually bring up how badly Kankuro and her father were feuding.

"Well," said Ino, determinedly cheerful, "what are we sitting around here for? Shouldn't we start planning? I know we have all summer, but we have a lot of work to do."

"Yes," added Hinata, "Tenten will need to learn how to be a boy, which will not be easy."

"Maybe I'll imitate Kankuro," said Tenten thoughtfully, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "He's a good guy, even if he does play with dolls."

"They're puppets," said Temari automatically, "Not dolls." Tenten rolled her eyes at Temari's defense of her younger brother.

"In any case, Kankuro and Gaara are pretty much the only boys we knew at Suna, but Gaara's personality is that of a cold block of granite. And if I'm going to succeed at fooling people, I'm going to actually have to be likable."

"We'll work on that," said Sakura, "but first," she pulled out Tenten's laptop and handed it to Temari, "we need to plan ahead. Temari, since you're the computer genius, type down any possible scenario we might get into and we'll figure out ways to work them out."

The four girls all crowded around Temari and began to plan on how they would lie to authorities, destroy the sexist glass ceiling and upturn the entire city once Tenten revealed herself to be a girl after beating so many guys.

It was most certainly going to be a fun year.

* * *

Hyuuga Neji, soon-to-be senior, captain of the Leaf Shinobi, and class president, suddenly felt a chill run up his spine. He turned, his long hair whipping around, but could see nothing unusual in the Konoha streets. 

"Oi, Hyuuga, what's wrong?" asked Uchiha Sasuke, a soon-to-be junior, the most popular boy in the school and the only person to equal Neji in sports and athletics. Despite (or maybe because of) their ice cold demeanors, they got along very well.

"It appears that Fate has something in store for us next year." Said Neji as they stood on the concrete, ignoring the passer-by, "And I'm not entirely sure that it will be pleasant."

"Hn," said Sasuke, unperturbed by the prediction, "Well if Fate has stopped speaking, I suggest we keep moving. Shino and Shikamaru are at Ichiraku's with Naruto, Kiba, and Lee; we should probably help them hold on to their sanity." Neji nodded and the two prodigies continued their walk down to the ramen restaurant.

As they walked, Neji made a quick mental note to be very alert when school began, and to make sure there wasn't anything too weird. He trusted Fate; right before sophomore year had started he had gotten the exact same feeling, and Uzumaki Naruto had entered his life.

It was most certainly going to be a strange year.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Neji has no idea how right he is… 

**Anyway, in case any of you are wondering:**

Suna and Konoha are two districts of North Fire City, while Oto is in the South Fire City. Because they are right next to each other, their schools are within busing and driving distance. However, Konoha is known for being a wealthy school, while Suna is pretty ordinary in terms of academics, but they had an amazing Kunoichi team.

Hinata, Sakura, and Ino all met up in middle school, and Sakura and Ino met Tenten when they entered high school, and they introduced her to Hinata (who they kept in contact with), and the four of them became close friends.

Temari is Sabaku-sensei's daughter who is a sophomore in college. She is the assistant coach for the Sand Kunoichi and has known Sakura (and by extension, Ino) since they were kids. She has a rocky relationship with her father, though not as bad as Gaara's and Kankuro's.

Please _please _let me know about any questions, criticisms, or comments you have. I would love to hear about what you have to say, and I need to know if there is anything I'm doing wrong.

**About the title: **It's weird, it makes no sense, but I had no idea what else to call this story. A glass ceiling is like an unofficial barrier that prevents people (usually of a different sex or gender) move up in a hierarchy, so I just applied it here.


	2. Practice Makes Perfect

**A/N:** Wow! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad you like my story so far!

**Just a note:** She's the Man inspired this fic, but there won't be much correlation between the movie and the fic, since there are so many differences. I may throw in a reference or work a scene to fit the story, but otherwise, this fic follows its own storyline.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto

* * *

When a female is required to go undercover as a boy, the first and most important thing she must work on is her voice. A good male voice is very difficult to produce, and is even harder to produce when the female in question feels like she is back in Foreign Language class.

"Try again, deeper this time."

"Why do I have to say the same thing over and over again? I feel so stupid!"

"Because you keep screwing up."

"Thanks Kankuro, you really know how to cheer up a girl."

"Whatever, try to pretend you're learning Spanish."

"Why?"

"In Spanish you sometimes have to focus more on the words you're saying than what you mean, because if you do, you feel stupid. Now say it."

"Hi there. My name is Tenten! I am a healthy red-blooded male." recited Tenten, trying not to feel as stupid as she sounded. Her voice sounded like she had a sore throat, not pleasant at all.

"That's better…" Temari's puppeteer brother and Tenten's voice coach Kankuro stood in front of her, "But your voice should go down a couple of pitches. Right now you sound like a convincing male seventh grader, when you should sound at least like a freshman." Tenten groaned and sank into the chair right behind her. She was grateful that no one else was in her apartment to witness this, that the other girls were all out boy-watching. Normally Tenten would have thought the activity was quite creepy, but in this case it was necessary. Kankuro was a fine model, but Tenten would need to learn how to act like a boy from others so she could find a way of walking and talking she was comfortable with. Ino and Temari had volunteered only too readily to help in this manner.

"Stop moping and get up," Kankuro pulled her back out of the chair, "Look, you're doing pretty well, and since you _volunteered_ to be a boy," Tenten rolled her eyes at the reminder. "You shouldn't be sulking. No one said this was going to be easy."

"I know, I know. But no one said it would be this hard either." She directed a glare at him, "Why don't you make this easier for me, since you're my coach?"

"No, I'm not allowed to, that would go against the point of being a coach, but I can offer some advice. Speak from your stomach; that might help."

"My stomach?" Tenten had never been knowledgeable about the human body, but she didn't have to be to know that sounded strange.

"You seem to be speaking from your chest right now, so just go lower than that. It will make your voice sound deeper. And don't try to talk in exclamation points all of the time, that makes your voice go too high and makes it more obvious that you're actually a girl."

"I still can't believe I'm taking advice from a guy who wears make up." muttered Tenten, before saying, yet again, "Hello, my name is Tenten. I am a red-blooded male." This time she was pleased with how her voice came out, considerably lower and a lot less exaggerated than her other attempts, with no scratchy sound. Kankuro nodded, also pleased.

"That's much better, so I'll ignore that crack about my face paint." He cocked his head and scrutinized Tenten for a moment. "We'll keep practicing that voice, but you can take the rest of the day off."

Tenten grinned happily, relieved that she was finally making progress, "Thanks, Kankuro, for helping me with this." She and Kankuro had been friends since they were kids, but they hadn't seen each other much since Kankuro dropped out of school to pursue his work in puppetry, thus leading to the feud with his father. However, when Temari had called him with a request to help them in their master plan, he had been only too happy to assist.

"No problem, but are you really sure you want to do this? It's going to be a very tricky illusion to maintain, and a lot of the guys in Konoha are actually pretty sharp. And what if you develop a crush on one of the guys?" Tenten grimaced, she still hadn't figured out a solution to that particular problem. Despite the hours the girls had spent poring over possible scenarios (some of which Tenten considered EXTREMELY unlikely, but Ino and Sakura had vivid imaginations); the path to take if that complication came up was undecided.

"I'm not sure, but I'll manage." A loud knocking announced the girls' return. Kankuro gathered up his stuff (including a large puppet called Karasu he lugged everywhere) and allowed Tenten to hug him.

"I'll go now. Much as I love my sister, I can't stay long in a room of giggling girls and not lose my sanity."

"And sitting alone in a room with just Gaara for company is just what the therapist ordered." Said Tenten sarcastically, grinning nonetheless, "and we don't giggle. We laugh, or chuckle, or snort." She added as an afterthought at Kankuro's back as he headed towards the door.

"Gaara at least has empathy for me; no matter what the people in the cuckoo nest think or say. And you do giggle, and you smacked me if I didn't giggle." He called over his shoulder as he opened the door and let himself out and blocked the girls from coming in. A loud whack was heard, which Tenten could bet had been across the back of poor Kankuro's head. Chuckling slightly (she did _not_ giggle, no matter what Kankuro said), she went to the door and admitted her friends inside.

"And he wonders why I hit him." Grumbled Temari, dumping a pair of gigantic shopping bags on the couch.

"Must you always be so cruel to him, Temari?" asked Hinata, setting down her own (smaller) bags next to the door and heading to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"Of course Hinata! Temari must be tough, she's an older sister, after all." declared Ino cheerfully, "Anyway, Tenten, we were able to boy watch, but you are going to have to come with us when we go out tomorrow."

"What?! Do I have to?" asked Tenten, mentally groaning at the idea of boy-watching with _Ino_ and _Temari_ of all people. Hinata already liked someone and Sakura was fine now, though according to the stories Ino told, Sakura had been quite a fan girl when she was in middle school.

"Well, you are the one who's going to imitate them, so I thought you shouldn't miss out on such outings." Said Sakura cheekily, yanking a hair band out of her hair and letting the pink locks fan out and frame her face.

"Sakura, that's cruel." Sakura shrugged her shoulders and took the water bottle Hinata handed her.

"Maybe, but none of us are good at mimicking, so you have to come if you want to find someone to imitate." Tenten had to admit, Sakura made a good point. Charades had become practically taboo during their girl time thanks to the girls' outrageously bad skills.

"So what have you been doing for the last four hours, if you haven't been boy-watching?" Tenten directed the question at Temari, the older, supposedly more _mature_ one.

"Shopping for you. It's amazing how few clothes there are in the men's department. We had to go through at least eight stores to find what we wanted" Answered Temari. Grinning at Tenten's surprised expression she explained, "Well, you should probably get used to dressing as a boy. You could probably get away with gender neutral clothes, but you should still own some guy clothes. I mean, if guys came over here and found a closet full of skirts, what do you think they would think you were?"

"A drag queen, but there's one detail you're forgetting: I don't own skirts."

"But you do own very feminine underclothes, so I think you should have some boy clothes on hand to hide them. Now go try those on."

"Do I have to? Couldn't I borrow some of Kankuro's or Gaara's old clothes?"

"I did their laundry. Trust me, you wouldn't want their hand-me-downs." Temari said flatly, her face dead serious. Tenten chose to let the topic drop. Instead she went over to the bags and began to rummage around inside them, pulling out short sleeved shirts, long sleeved shirts, jeans, cargos, slacks, jackets, and (for some bizarre reason) a pack of boxer shorts.

"Temari," began Tenten, holding the boxers between her thumb and index finger, "what's the point of these? You don't think I'll actually wear them, do you?" Temari took one look at what Tenten was referring to and her expression, looked at Ino, and then both girls promptly burst out laughing.

"Ino and Temari believed that it would be a good idea for you to have them, so that no one would be surprised if they came poking around." Hinata explained, holding her hands up as if to say 'it wasn't my idea'. Sakura did the same, though a slight smirk on her face told Tenten otherwise.

"Well, I'm not gonna wear them." She dropped the boxers on the couch, "But everything else seems to be all right."

"Really? In that case, stop stalling and try them on." Before she could even blink Tenten found herself being dragged to her room by her psychotic friends.

* * *

"I' m going to hand it to you, Temari. You're good at picking out boys' clothes."

Tenten now stood in front of a full length mirror in a pair of tan cargos and loose blue polo shirt. Her hair had been taken out of her buns and tied back in a low ponytail to be messed with later.

"Having brothers can be a virtue, Sakura, even if they are little savages." Said Temari as she walked in a circle around Tenten, examining the girl from all angles. "Now Tenten, these clothes are good, but you're going to have to bandage your chest, and all of your shirts will be a bit loose, okay?"

"I'm prepared for that, but what about my hair? Should I cut it off?" Despite her stress on practicality over style, Tenten was very vain about her long brown hair.

"We have all summer to work on that, for now just tie it back."

"So Tenten, how did your voice lessons with Kankuro go?" asked Ino as she passed a new shirt and jeans to Tenten to try on.

"Better than yesterday; we finally found a voice that is actually passable." Said Tenten as she shed the old clothes and pulled on the new ones without a second thought. They were all girls, after all.

"Can we hear it?" asked Hinata

"Sure, hang on a sec." Tenten cleared her throat and said, in a very different voice, "Hey, my name is Tenten, what's up?", even going so far as to act the way she thought a boy would. All four girls promptly applauded her.

"Good job! That was loads better than the last few times." said Sakura, clearly pleased.

"Yeah, now you sound like you might actually be in high school. Before you sounded like a chipmunk with strep throat." Ino said bluntly.

"It's good, Tenten-chan." Said Hinata softly

"Yeah, it's good." Agreed Temari, "But you're going to need a new name. I'm sorry but, Tenten sounds too strange coming from a guy's mouth."

"Oh, right." Truth be told, Tenten had hoped that she would be able to keep her name as a boy. After all, it wasn't exactly the most feminine name to be called. But Temari had a point, she had never met any other Tentens, and it would become messy if her classmates met up with her as Tenten-the-girl and associated her with Tenten-the-boy. "Well, what do you guys suggest?"

"Well, it's not like these clothes, Tenten. We can't just pick one out and stick it on you; you're the one who will be stuck with the name, you'll have to think of one. If the name doesn't reflect you correctly, it won't make a good alias." Explained Ino, displaying for once a good amount of philosophical sense. "And that shirt looks absolutely dreadful, take it off and put this on." She held up a long sleeved checkered shirt and a plain white t-shirt. Tenten did as she ordered, removing the striped collared shirt and pulling on Ino's suggestion.

"The pig's right, Tenten. We'll leave the name for now and let you think about it." Agreed Sakura, "Then while we're boy-watching, you can decide!" Tenten paused in critiquing her appearance long enough to glare venomously at Sakura.

"I hate you, must you remind me?"

"Hey, you want to pull this off right?"

"Right…"

"Then stop complaining!"

_What did I get myself into?! _Tenten wondered for the thousandth time since she had first accepted the plan.

* * *

As it turned out, boy-watching wasn't as creepy as Tenten had assumed it would be. She had thought that they would be hiding behind stuff with a camera and dark glasses, watching certain boys' every move.

Instead, it turned out that Sakura, Ino and Temari's definitions of boy-watching actually meant sitting at a picnic table watching boys pass by and chatting in between observations.

"Well, this is mostly to watch mannerisms and ways of walking." Sakura had explained to Tenten in the car, "You're going to mimic the way different boys walk and act until you find one that you are comfortable with. Feel free to mix and match different mannerisms, makes things interesting." Tenten had just nodded and didn't even try to point out that personality traits weren't exactly accessories to be worn and taken off at will.

Currently, Tenten had practiced the postures and expressions worn by athletic busybodies, Goths, preps, losers, lazy boys, even hyper idiots. She didn't do most of these of her own free will, if she had had her way she would have just watched until she saw something she liked. But she had to admit inwardly that if it had been Ino or Sakura or Temari doing it (there was no way she could force Hinata) she would be doing the same thing, egging them on enthusiastically while laughing at how ridiculous they looked.

She took comfort in the fact that the saying "what goes around comes around" still applied to life.

"This isn't working." After more than two hours of observing boys and copying them, Tenten was completely worn out. Her logical side was wondering how she could train for half a day before admitting exhaustion, yet after only watching and imitating for a third of that time, she could be twice as tired. It made no sense, and her tired brain didn't want it to make sense.

"I wonder why not," Temari frowned thoughtfully, drumming her fingers on the picnic table where she and the other girls sat. "I mean, imitating people usually leads to creating your own unique style, so why can't you?"

"Maybe because I have no idea what to do." Said Tenten sarcastically, flopping down on the grass.

"Tenten-chan, please calm down."

"Yeah, it's not like we teach one of our best friends to walk like a guy everyday." Said Sakura, flicking through her book (yet again), "So we don't really know what we're doing."

"I really hope that none of your patients ever have to hear you say that."

"They won't. I'll gain experience first." said Sakura smugly. "And the next time any of us want to cross-dress; I will be able to safely say I had experience." Tenten stuck her tongue out at Sakura, who copied the gesture.

"How about this: Tenten, just show us how you think you should walk and act, and we'll drop it for today." Offered Ino. Tenten nodded, not really having any energy to argue. She got off of the grass and stood for a minute, trying to think about how boys walked (the comments she and her friends had been making made her feel like a freakin' zoologist). Feeling more ridiculous than ever, she walked a sort of I-don't-care strut from one side of the hill to the other. Then, more confident, she repeated the strut-thingy, this time relaxing a bit. It was easier to keep up than the other walks she had tried out.

"That's good," said Sakura with approval, "You don't look like a clomping camel this time!

Tenten's eye twitched. "A clomping camel?"

"Well, when you were imitating the jock that's what it looked like! He probably thought that he was some big king of the jungle, but he was definitely like a camel clomping along."

"And what was the prep?" challenged Tenten, not liking the idea of looking like a camel, even if it was unintentional.

"A preening peacock." Said Hinata, for once showing no qualms about insulting someone.

"I'll say! He and pig would have been perfect together!" agreed Sakura

"Hey! I'm not shameless, I do have some standards!"

"Yeah, the boys have to be idiot enough to fall for your charms!"

"At least I had boyfriends!"

"At least I don't need relationships to enjoy myself."

"S-Sakura-chan! Ino-chan! Please stop."

"Yeah girls, calm down. Don't let yourselves get worked up." Said Temari. Unfortunately neither Sakura nor Ino were listening to the voices of reason. They maintained their argument for the rest of the time in the park and in the drive back to Tenten's apartment. It was annoying, yet at the same time very amusing. There were very few people on this earth after all who can alternate between insulting each other and commenting on clothes and the weather in the same breaths.

When they reached the apartment, Ino and Sakura abandoned their bickering in favor of raiding Tenten's freezer for ice cream, dishing out good sized bowls for the five of them.

"It's so nice when you two put aside your bickering and do something productive." Remarked Temari lazily, grabbing a bowl and spoon and digging in to the creamy mint ice cream. She would have preferred coffee flavor, but hey, Tenten didn't have any and Temari wasn't about to turn down free ice cream.

"I'll say," said Tenten, reclining on the couch and eating from her own bowl. "Sometimes I thought that they joined the Sand Kunoichi just to vent out their frustrations with each other."

"Really?" asked Hinata, who sat cross-legged on the carpeted floor with her back to the couch while she ate her own ice cream.

"Now, now. You know those are just lies, Hinata-chan." Said Ino cheerfully, plopping herself next to the blue-haired girl. "Though beating the crap out of my opponents certainly helped me calm down."

"It is good for anger management." Agreed Sakura, resting her legs over the arm of the chair she was sitting on.

The conversation continued in this vein for a while, as the girls unwound and relaxed. Eventually, the problem of renaming Tenten came up.

"Tenten, you really need to choose a name. I'm sending the files to Konoha tonight and I need to fix it so that you aren't a boy called Tenten."

"Fine, but how should I choose?"

"Well, your name as a boy will have to have some similarity to your real name." said Sakura.

"As long as the similarity wasn't too obvious." Agreed Hinata

"So I take it Tonton is out?" Ino laughed as she dodged the pillow projectile Tenten launched at her.

"Ino, being named after a piglet is not amusing. Particularly when the piglet in question is female!"

"I've been known as the boar for ages, I assure you, it's not that bad."

"A two syllable name would be easier for you to remember." Said Sakura, ignoring Tenten and Ino's 'conversation'.

"Yeah, and it should start with 'T' so the adjustment wouldn't be very bad." Neither was Hinata.

"So how about Touya?" suggested Temari

"Nah. Isn't that the older brother in Cardcaptor Sakura?"

"The hot older brother, yes."

"No thanks."

"How about Tenchi?"

"Hell no! No characters from harem manga! I do not want a tainted name!"

"Takeshi?"

"Too many syllables and much too common to use, Ino."

"Oh, right. How does Tenshi sound?"

"Nah."

"Tenkai?"

"Uh-uh."

"Rikki Tikki Tavi?" offered Ino

"…what?"

"Hey, I just want you to pick something."

"Well, I kinda like the name Toyo." Remarked Tenten

"There's no 'ten' in Toyo."

"But the end sounds are the same, two syllables, starts with "T", Tenten, I think you have a winner." Declared Sakura once she had ticked the advantages off her fingers.

"I think you could be a good Toyo-kun, Tenten-chan."

"Thanks Hinata."

"So your name is now Toyo…do you have a last name you want?" asked Temari

"How about Katana?"

"…Tenten, we've supported your strange love of sharp, pointy objects, but isn't that kind of weird?" asked Sakura, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, katanas are cool."

"Suit yourself." Temari scribbled down the name in a small pocket notebook. "Tomorrow morning, Tsunade will think that she is reading Katana Toyo's records."

"So I guess we'll have to get used to calling you Toyo-kun. Man, this is going to be weird." Commented Ino

"Good thing we have the whole summer to practice. Starting tomorrow." Said Sakura

"What?"

"You heard me; tomorrow it won't be Tenten walking around Konoha district with us, but Toyo-kun."

"No freakin' way."

"You have to get used to being a boy in public, you know."

"I know, but tomorrow? If this keeps up, by the time I get into Konoha I'll be dead."

"I can see the headlines: Girl Desperate to Prove that Girls are as Good as Boys Dies of Exhaustion. Yeah, you're right, that wouldn't exactly help our cause."

"How about this; in a couple of weeks when I can act and talk properly, I'll walk around as a boy."

"Excellent, now that that's taken care of, anyone up for some TV?" Sakura grabbed the remote and flicked on the television as though the entire discussion had not taken place.

* * *

Ichiraku's Ramen was the best noodle restaurant in the whole Fire City. It was popular for being clean, quick, and having very tasty ramen. Young people were its main patrons, so Ichiraku's was also known as a place to meet new people.

So currently, the gossiping of most of the groups of girls and boys was about the new boy who had just walked through the doors and was sitting ALONE at the counter, waiting for his order and twirling a dulled kunai expertly on his finger.

"Who's that?"

"I don't know, he must be new."

"How old do you think he is?"

"About fifteen, I would guess."

"He looks pretty girly to me."

"I think he's cute."

"Cradle-robber!"

"Hey, I'm eighteen, not that old…"

Tenten did her best to ignore the comments regarding her, twirling the kunai faster and faster as she tried to block out the voices. She felt incredibly awkward, though at least no boys would try to hit on her while she looked like this.

She had to admit, she looked pretty good. She wasn't as slender as Hinata and Sakura or as curvaceous as Ino and Temari, so when they had worked on 'androgynizing' her figure, there wasn't too much hassle. Working out also had its benefits, since it kept her from looking like a wimp.

Tenten had chosen to wear a pair of faded jeans and since it was cool and breezy, a blue, long-sleeved polo shirt. She had finally figured out that wearing her hair in a tight braid and wearing a sweatband to keep her bangs out of her face would allow her to keep her long hair and keep her face from appearing delicate and thus, too feminine. _Though it helps that I don't wear make up or pluck my eyebrows, _she mused

Unfortunately, Tenten still had absolutely no idea what to do. Sakura had said she was mostly here to be 'exhibited', but Tenten had no idea what she meant.

"Hey," a voice came from besides her, almost making Tenten fall out of her seat. She glanced curiously to the side only to find Kankuro grinning at her and almost fell off her stool anyway. Why?

Kankuro wasn't wearing make up. Tenten knew him well enough to know that he never removed his make-up. Not even in his sleep.

"What the-?" she began.

"Temari sent me here to help you, since none of the girls can really interfere." He nodded over to a table near the back of the restaurant where Sakura, Hinata, and Ino were all sitting. Temari had gone to the Academy, supposedly for some business. "And if you wanted to talk up those girls over there, it wouldn't help your reputation if you were hanging out with a guy in face paint."

"Ah, got it." Then she realized what the rest of his statement meant, "Whaa? Talk up girls? What are you, crazy?!"

"No, look, those girls over there have been eyeing you, and if you approach them, you can prove to anyone who's watching that you're a real man!"

"Or I could screw up and have everyone laugh at me!"

"Well, a little embarrassment never killed anyone. Now listen to me closely…"

* * *

Kankuro chuckled as he watched Tenten get up and walk over to the group of teens in a table by the wall that had been talking about her. Her voice and manner of walking had greatly improved, she was actually pretty convincing as a guy. But this would be a real test to see if Tenten could handle acting like a boy in front of others.

He couldn't hear the conversation, but judging from Tenten's body language and the facial expressions of some of the girls in the group, it wasn't going very well. A couple of boys in the group made sneering remarks at her, probably telling Tenten to go buzz off. But she was persistent, and managed to say something that caused one of the girls to blush prettily and her verbal offenders to back off. At the same time, it also made the boy sitting next to the blushing girl angry.

He got out of his chair and got right in Tenten's face, cracking his knuckles to make a point. Tenten was beginning to look a little nervous, which wasn't all that surprising, since the guy was almost a foot taller than she was. But she managed to keep her head in a typical Tenten way and tried to calm him down; despite the fact he wasn't listening.

Finally she seemed to give up. But instead of walking away (which would have been deadly at this point) Tenten stopped twirling her kunai, and with one casual flick of the wrist, pinned the boy to the wall by his shirt. She then apologized (or it looked like an apology) to the girl and left them, the gazes of the whole group following her.

"Nice," said Kankuro when she came back in earshot, "Unorthodox, but it worked in the end. What did you do that almost made you a laughing stock?"

"I sounded like a strangled cat."

"Ah, you forgot how to speak?"

"Pretty much, but then I said something about how the girl looked and she went all gooey and forgot about it."

"That was pretty smart of you." Kankuro looked over to the other girls in time to see the looks of complete confusion on their faces. He gave them a discreet thumb up before turning to Tenten.

"So who was the guy?"

"The girl's boyfriend."

"Whoops,"

"Big time. Next time you set me up to flirt with someone, make sure that person's other isn't around! I just lost a good kunai."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now get out of here before that guy gathers enough brain cells to get out of his shirt and come after you."

"Good idea." Tenten beckoned at her friends and they made a hasty exit. Kankuro chose not to leave just yet, instead grabbing Tenten's uneaten ramen and digging in.

Hey, why waste a perfectly good bowl?

* * *

As the summer flew by, Tenten's charade as a boy got better and better. Soon she

was able to go out in public and successfully act like a boy, even going so far as to pretend to flirt with girls and have those girls (to her horror and everyone else's amusement) flirt back. She ran into no more trouble with angry boyfriends, and was grateful.

Despite this accomplishment, there was still the possibility that she might not get in. According to Hinata, the acceptance letters wouldn't arrive until August, so she wouldn't know whether or not her training was in vain until the school year was about to begin. And even if she was accepted, it still wouldn't be worth it without a scholarship. Tenten was still technically a minor, and was reliant on the orphanage for money to live on. It wasn't that the orphanage was stingy—they weren't—but they needed all the funds possible to give the kids they housed a good life. A scholarship would help her get around these obstacles, and the orphanage representatives would made sure she was fine would never need to know about it.

But since there was little she could do about it, Tenten just pushed it to the back of her head and forgot about it. Sometimes during the summer the issue would resurface in her thoughts and a small knot would form in her stomach as she worried irrationally about what she would do if she didn't get in. Not only would she have to return to a Sand Kunoichi-less Suna High, but she would also have to deal with the fact that she would have to stop fighting. And that was just unacceptable.

So when that hot, August day finally arrived, Tenten was experiencing mingled feelings of excitement and absolute terror as she held the envelope in her hands, the rest of her mail tossed carelessly onto the kitchen table. She wasted no time in opening it, unconsciously wondering why the school would waste such good paper on acceptance or no acceptance letters. There was absolutely no need for the golden _To Toyo-sama _stamped on the back of the envelope, or for the intricate wax seal on the other side holding it closed. However, the seal was nice enough that Tenten took care not to tear it.

The paper inside, much to Tenten's dry amusement, was plain business paper. _Hm, either they only care about presentation, or they don't bother with nice rejection letters._

Tenten fervently hoped it was the former.

Fingers trembling, she unfolded the letter and began to read.

_Dear Toyo-kun,_

_We would love to have a student like you at our school. Your amazing Shinobi skills will be an asset to our team, and your grades are also exceptional. _

_Because of your circumstances I have agreed to give you a scholarship to pay for your tuition, your school uniform, and any other expenses you will need for the Academy. However, since you plan on living in your apartment, there is no money in this scholarship for boarding._

_School begins on the second of September, be sure to have all of the supplies needed. I look forward to having you here._

_Signed,_

_Tsunade_

Complete euphoria swept through Tenten, coupled with intense relief. She hadn't wasted her summer; she was actually going to get the chance to prove that girls were as good as boys, and she was going to the best school in the city with her three best—wait.

Tenten grabbed her phone off its cradle and quickly dialed Sakura, hoping that Sakura would be in the same mood she was for the same reason.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sakura, its Tenten, listen, I just got the letter from Konoha, and…" she waited for Sakura to finish the thought.

"You got in!" It really was nice to have a friend who "got" things quickly.

"Yep, Toyo-kun officially is a senior of the Academy!"

"That's great!" squealed Sakura, "I just got the letter, and apparently, I'm now a scholarship student!"

"That's great! Knew your brains would help you one day Sakura! What about Ino?" If Ino had gotten in, Tenten would be absolutely delighted. The blonde was annoying, but she was very clever at getting Tenten into and (more importantly) out of social situations.

"I don't know, let me call her and we'll do a three way." Tenten waited while Sakura dialed Ino, and when she heard the blonde's voice, didn't waste any time with formalities.

"Ino, did you get a letter from Konoha yet?"

"Actually, yes. I was about to answer it when billboard brow so rudely interrupted me."

"I'll ignore that insult if you just open the envelope and tell us if you got in."

"Fine, fine. Jeez, Sakura, someone is awfully short today." There was a sound of paper ripping and a relieved sigh, followed by a very loud shriek that resulted in a loud _clunk_ from Sakura's side and Tenten almost dropping the phone.

"I GOT IN!!!" she squealed. "No scholarship, but my parents said they'd pay if I got in."

"Fantastic! But please warn me the next time you imitate a whistle." Said Tenten, not really meaning what she said. "Sakura, are you still there?"

"Yeah, the stupid pig made me drop the phone when she squealed."

"Should we call Hinata?" asked Ino, completely ignoring the "pig" comment.

"Yeah, I'll do it." Tenten dialed Hinata's number and listened to the phone ring, absently humming to herself. When the phone was picked up she didn't even wait for Hinata to even say hello.

"Hey Hinata-chan, guess what? Sakura, Ino, and I all got—"

"Hinata-sama is not here at the moment." A deep male voice cut her off curtly, "Who is this?"

"Her friend, who is this?" As far as Tenten knew, no one except for Hinata answered her personal phone. Did she have a boyfriend? "Are you her boyfriend?"

The already irritated voice became icy cold. "No I certainly am not; I'm Hyuuga Neji, her cousin." Oh, Oops.

"Ah, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, Neji-san. Can you tell me where Hinata currently is?"

"You have no right to know." Said Neji coldly. Tenten gaped at the phone for a full minute before responding.

"She's my friend; of course I have a right!"

"No, you don't. If she has not told you where she was going then she probably does not want you to disturb her."

"Hinata has her own life; she doesn't have to tell me everything! Look, just tell me if she has her cell phone with her and I won't bother you anymore."

"No."

"Why not?" Tenten was beginning to get very frustrated.

"I can't."

"Why? Do you even know where she is?"

"No." Tenten was getting to the point that she wanted to reach into the phone and throttle the annoying boy to death.

"Then what was the point of answering her _personal phone_, the line_ people who want to know where she is, _call?!"

"It was annoying me."

Tenten hung up. She didn't want to hear another word from Neji-_san_'s throat. _I don't care how hot he sounds, he's a jerk!_

Woah. She did _not_ just think that.

Shaking her head to clear it of strange thoughts, Tenten dialed Hinata's cell phone, hoping that she wouldn't have to talk to another Hyuuga. Fortunately, luck was on her side.

"Hello?" It was definitely Hinata.

"Hey Hinata, Sakura, Ino and I all have good news."

"What?'

"On my count, girls, 1…2…3!"

"We got in!" all three girls shouted into the phone.

"T-that's great!"

"Looks like the training wasn't for nothing," said Tenten, giddy with relief.

"I'll say, that would have sucked." Agreed Ino "Hey, what took you so long to come back? Sakura and I ran out of stuff to talk about and we almost had to resort to name calling."

"I ran into a bit of trouble with your cousin, Hinata."

"Which one?"

"Neji."

"Neji-nii-san? What happened?"

"He was being rude and wouldn't tell me where you were, not even when I insisted, then he insulted me, and then I found out he actually had no idea where you were so I hung up on him." recounted Tenten. Sakura and Ino promptly burst out laughing and even Hinata chuckled.

"You're going to have to forgive him." Said Sakura, "He tolerates me and Ino since we dragged Hinata out of her shell, but he's hostile to anyone he's never met before."

"You mean he tolerates _you_. He hates me." Complained Ino as Sakura laughed. "He once called me a blabbering bird with the voice of a chipmunk in middle school."

"You're just sore that an older boy didn't fall for your charms." Teased Sakura.

"How much older is he?" asked Tenten.

"He's your age, Tenten-chan. And he's going to be the class president of Konoha." Said Hinata.

Oh, crap. Well, she would just stay out of his way. It wasn't like she insulted him, after all, though she might end up doing so if he spoke like that again. All she would have to do was stay out of his way, and she would be fine.

Right?

* * *

**A/N:** Maybe, Tenten, but unlikely.

I'm sorry for the length of this chapter, but if I had skipped to the first day of school, it wouldn't have made much sense.

I will update as frequently as I can, but I'm starting high school soon, and I may not have as much time to type as I want.

Please PLEASE Review! I'll keep updating, but I want to know what you think!


	3. Konoha Academy

**A/N**: Hello! This is the third chapter of **Breaking the Glass Ceiling**!

Just to let everyone know, I got the idea after watching She's the Man, and there will be a couple similarities (I'm thinking of making a bigger scale catfight, that would be fun) but no love hexagons, though there might be some triangles.

My sister once remarked that a good Naruto parody of She's the Man would go like this: Neji wants Sakura who likes Sasuke who is really Tenten whose brother is dating Karin so she hates Sakura who's with Neji to make Sasuke jealous who is really Tenten who's crushing on Neji who thinks she's a guy…

Er, anyway, sorry for my babbling and on with the story.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto

* * *

The morning of the first day of their new school finally arrived for Tenten, Ino, and Sakura. They had spent the night at Tenten's house, discussing last minute plans and making sure that Tenten made a presentable boy. The next morning, they got up early to prepare Tenten for the "trial" of walking into school and being able to act like a boy for one whole day. If she could make it through the day, she was officially in the "safe" zone.

"It's official," announced Ino, examining Tenten critically, "If you didn't look so young, you'd make a cute senior boy."

The boy's uniform consisted of a white shirt and a loose jacket and slacks, both in a standard navy blue color. Tenten had to admit, she looked good in it, despite some slight difficulty breathing thanks to the bandages swathing her torso. The weight of the braid on the back of her neck was still a strange sensation, but she preferred it to cutting off all of her hair. Thank goodness that long hair wasn't too uncommon for boys, at least according to Hinata. Tenten probably would have died if she had been forced to cut off her lovely hair.

"I do look convincing," admitted Tenten, turning in front of the mirror, "But pray tell why do I need so many bandages so tight? I understand my chest, but the rest of my torso?"

"Because anyone who might accidentally see bandages around your waist will assume you got an injury or something to your stomach, and won't question you too much." Explained Sakura, also examining Tenten. "Besides, if we just wrapped your chest, it would look out of proportion with your waist."

"Got it," Tenten checked herself over in the mirror one last time before hefting her messenger bag over her shoulder and turning to Sakura and Ino, both of whom were dressed in their own (girl) uniforms with their own bags. "Everyone ready?" She asked with the solemnity of a general heading into battle.

"About as ready as I'll ever be." Said Sakura cheerfully.

"I would be too if the uniform wasn't so GREEN." Moaned Ino, yanking the hem of her skirt self-consciously.

"It's just the skirt and collar, Ino-pig."

"Don't talk back to me forehead girl, you actually look GOOD in this God-awful shade."

"Thus why I am needling you, my dear boar."

"Shut up."

"After you."

"Billboard brow!"

"Toyo-kun, please control your girlfriend."

"Hey! That retort doesn't even make sense!"

"Let's go." Said Tenten, completely ignoring the conversation and heading for the door, "Hinata said she'll meet us under the plum trees, and we need her to show us the office."

"You mean _you_ need her to show you around, Sakura and I already know which buildings are which." Ino was always quick to point out that she knew things Tenten would need help with.

"Hey, you guys moved in yesterday, and in case you haven't noticed, I'm still a girl. That means that sharing a boys' dorm is an incredibly stupid idea. Which is precisely why I signed up as a day student." Tenten unlocked the door and held it open for her two friends.

"Meh, whatever." Ino sashayed out the door, not seeing the exasperated look the two remaining girls shared before following.

* * *

The ride to Konoha Academy was quiet, all of the excitement gone and the dread of being at new school taking its place. Sakura was reading without taking in the page of her book, while Ino fiddled unconsciously with her fringe, watching the scenery pass by without really seeing it.

Tenten couldn't let her thoughts wander much, seeing that she was the one driving, but a tiny voice at the back of her head bemoaned her predicament, wondering how hard she must have been hit on the head and why she always spoke before she thought. At the same time, the voice also gushed over all the boys she would certainly come in contact with, ignoring the fact that any boys she would meet would think she was homosexual and run away if she tried flirting. Good thing she had never been interested in such things.

_I could really sympathize with Sakura, if Inner Sakura is this annoying…_ Tenten didn't quite get the concept of Inner Sakura, but if she was anything like the little voice, she could empathize.

"There it is." Said Sakura suddenly, right as the school came into view.

Konoha Academy was a 'wealthy person' school, originally founded for the aristocracy's sons, and (after the school was almost burnt down in a misguided feminism protest) their daughters. So it was very well kept and HUGE, laid out like a very small town. Easily the most eye catching building was a huge tower rising from the courtyard, with several buildings laid out like a compound.

Tenten had to admit, it was very nice.

"Wow, isn't this place amazing?" Sakura was practically falling out of the passenger window; she was leaning so far out, "I can see the track field, the courtyard; the plum trees are over there—hey! There's Hinata!" Sakura waved at their friend so energetically that she actually did fall out of the car. Fortunately, Ino was able to reach around the back of Sakura's chair and grab her uniform to haul her safely inside before she hit the ground.

"Forehead girl! Do you want to die?" snapped Ino, whapping Sakura on the back of her head, "I don't. If you die, then I won't have a roommate or a banter partner!" Tenten turned and raised her eyebrows at Ino.

"You call your bickering _banter_?" she asked incredulously, forgetting to pay any attention to other cars and pedestrians in the parking lot.

"Well it sounds better than bicker and _keep your eyes on the road_! Shrieked Ino as they almost hit two boys that had the _un_common sense to run right in front of the car. Tenten slammed on the brakes just in time, throwing poor Sakura and Ino forwards.

"Oops," said Tenten sheepishly, "Heh, didn't mean for that to happen." Sakura and Ino simply sweatdropped and shook their heads.

"Just park and I'll forget about it." Said Sakura, smoothing down her fly away hair and checking it in the side mirror. "By the way, Hinata looks pretty scared…" Tenten chose not to look and instead concentrated on finding a good space near the plum trees.

Without any further incidents, Tenten parked the car and she, Ino, and Sakura all jumped out. Tenten was more than a little apprehensive and nervously straightened her clothes as they walked towards the plum trees. She still found walking like a boy made her self-conscious, but not as much as before.

Hinata didn't wait for them to get to her. In fact, Tenten had never seen the girl even hurry before today, when she practically flew towards them.

"W-what on earth were you th-thinking?" panted Hinata, her hands resting on her knees as she stopped to catch her breath. "You sc-scared me."

"Sorry Hinata-chan," said Ino cheerfully, "but Toyo-kun here wanted to have a near death experience. But hey, it's not our fault he's such an ass." Tenten glared at Ino, who blatantly ignored it.

"Anyway," Ino continued, "Could you introduce us to a few people? I don't like not knowing people." As she spoke, a couple of good-looking boys their age passed by, drawing Ino's gaze.

"Yeah, riight." Sakura rolled her eyes at the dreamy expression on Ino's face. "Come on, let's go to the office." Hinata nodded and began to lead them, taking on the role of a tour guide for Tenten, albeit a quiet, slightly creepy one.

"Over there," Hinata gestured at what appeared to be an enormous food court, "Is where you eat. There are several different selections of food and you can pick and choose as you please. And over there is the gymnasium; it's divided into the girls' and the boys', though the sexes sometimes play games together." She pointed at a massive stadium-like building.

"We already know were the dorms are, so I assume that the other buildings are for classes?" guessed Tenten, waving a hand at the unidentified buildings. Hinata nodded the affirmative.

"So which one's the office?" she asked. Instead of speaking, Hinata simply pointed at the massive tower.

"You're kidding, right?" Tenten raised her eyebrows. "That's an office?" It looked more like a radio tower.

"Nope, she's not, that really is the principal's office." affirmed Sakura, "But we just have to go to the first floor to get our schedules first, then we can find our classes. The other floors are for detentions, paperwork, meeting rooms, etc."

"Okay." The four girls walked up the steps and through the open doors. Inside the office were a few chairs so people could sit while they waited; a potted tree, a massive bookshelf and a secretary's desk with a woman sitting behind it. She looked up and smiled as the four girls (well, three girls and one guy to her eyes) walked into the room.

"Hello Hinata-chan," she said, smiling. "How can I help you?" She was rather pretty, with short black hair and dark eyes.

"Hello, Shizune-san, these are my friends, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, and Toyo-kun." She pointed to each of them in turn. "They are starting here today, and they need their schedules."

"Ah, of course." Shizune looked up a few things on her computer and quickly printed out three pages, "Here are your schedules, and do any of you need a map?"

"No thanks, we have Hinata," said Tenten, smiling politely at Shizune. "Thanks for the schedules." She accepted the papers and was about to turn around when a loud male voice boomed from behind her.

"And just who are these beauties and where have they been hiding from me?" Almost reluctantly, Tenten turned around to find a tall white-haired man with a weird grin leering down at Sakura and Ino. Ino glared at him, while Sakura looked rather freaked out.

"These are the new students, Jiraiya." Explained Shizune, "And stop grinning like that. Tsunade won't like it if she finds out you've been scaring the new girls again."

"Ah, right, sorry." Jiraiya cleared his throat, "I'm Jiraiya, your vice principal. Nice to meet such gorgeous young girls. This young man hasn't been bothering you have he?" he jerked his thumb at an irritated Tenten, though to those unused to her would have thought that she was completely neutral to the scene.

"No, Toyo-kun hasn't been bothering us at all, he's our friend." Sakura assured Jiraiya. _You're the one bothering us._

"All the more reason to be careful." Sniffed Jiraiya, "You can never trust teenage boys nowadays, especially the ones who claim to be 'friends' with you."

_And you definitely can't trust perverted old men _thought Tenten, grateful that Jiraiya thought she a boy.

"We'll keep that in mind." Said Ino, smiling in a 'charming' manner and grabbing Sakura's and Hinata's wrists as she surreptitiously inched away from him, "See you around, Jiraiya-sensei."

"See you around, young ladies!" said Jiraiya cheerfully, ignoring Tenten completely. The instant his back was turned the girls high-tailed out of there.

"Hinata, please tell me that the locker rooms and dorms are lecher-proof." Ino begged once they were out of the tower and well out of ear shot of the vice principal.

"I'm not sure about that," Hinata began hesitantly, "but Tsunade-sensei has given permission to everyone of the female species to beat him if he is caught peeping. But he isn't interested in younger high school students; he prefers hitting on the senseis."

"Clearly, there is a God." Murmured Ino, clasping her hands in mock prayer.

"And I'm grateful that I'm a guy," remarked Tenten offhandedly, grinning widely at the irritation on Ino's and Sakura's faces.

"Don't count on it." Sakura informed Tenten tartly. "Okay, so what do you have first period?"

"Let's see…I have a Morino Ibiki for Foreign Language. You guys?"

"Math with Kakashi-sensei." Replied Hinata.

"Same as Hinata's," confirmed Sakura. They smiled at each other in relief.

"Damn, I have History with Asuma." Said Ino glumly, before looking over Sakura's shoulder and brightening, "But we have Science and P.E. together!"

"That's not too bad, what about you Hinata?"

"I have the same PE class as you two, and I have Home Ec with Toyo-kun."

"I have the same period of PE and—no way!" Tenten gaped at the name across from that class.

_Oh no, oh no, no no!!! _Went her logical self.

_**No way! He's here!!**_Was the little voice's reaction.

"What's wrong Tenten?" asked Sakura, noting the look of panic on her friend's face.

"Hinata, why didn't you tell me that Maito Gai taught here?!" demanded Tenten. _This can't be happening, why couldn't this happen some other time?!_

"He only started last year. Why is it important?"

"Maito Gai…" Sakura repeated the name carefully, "Wasn't he your Shinobi instructor from before we met?"

"Yeah, and he knew me better than anyone. He could almost always see through my tricks."

"Uh oh," murmured Sakura

"Why is it so bad that he could see through...?" there was an awkward silence as Ino figured out what the others knew. "I knew that." She declared lamely.

"Maybe he doesn't remember you?" suggested Hinata optimistically

"I think he will." Said Tenten quietly, "He was my foster father for a while, and he wanted to adopt me." A smile crept up her lips, "But he scared the orphanage officials, so they took me out of his home."

"Oh." Murmured Hinata

"How'd he scare them?" asked Ino, tilting her head to one side. "Last I checked, the manager of the orphanage was a terrifying bi—witch." She hastily amended as a teacher with red eyes and black hair passed them.

"You'll get the idea when you meet him." Was all the explanation Tenten offered. "At least we all have at least one class together." She draped an arm around Hinata, "You, Sakura, Hinata and me together in possibly the only class we can talk through. That should be interesting."

"What should be interesting?" a cold, intimidating voice asked from behind Tenten. A chill went up her spine; she could practically taste the hostility that emanated off of the unknown figure. Well, not entirely unknown, she knew his voice and his name, but not his face. Taking a deep breath, Tenten turned to face Hyuuga Neji.

* * *

A/N: Short chapter, I know, but this seemed a good place to stop. I'm sorry about the pointlessness, but I had to include it.

So, Tenten will meet Neji face-to-face, wonder how she'll take it?

Please review, I need reviews to live!! Okay maybe not, but I need to know what you think!!!


	4. New Classes, New Problems pt 1

**A/N:** Is it just me or is it somehow easier for girls to cross dress as boys than it is for boys to cross dress as girls? I mean in like movies and stuff, not in manga where the boys are so pretty they're inhuman. I dunno, but it seems more difficult for boys to cross dress than for girls.

**Just a note:** Since Konoha Academy is pretty prestigious, there are no AP classes.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto

* * *

"_What should be interesting?" a cold, intimidating voice asked from behind Tenten. A chill went up her spine; she could practically taste the hostility that emanated off of the unknown figure. Well, not entirely unknown, she knew his voice, but not him. Taking a deep breath, Tenten turned around to face Hyuuga Neji._

Tenten thanked her stars that she had learned how to maintain a neutral expression under stressful circumstances, otherwise she would have been gaping quite rudely at the Hyuuga. As it was, she had to fight the blush that was threatening to rise up on her cheeks.

Her first thought was that Hyuuga Neji looked like a member of an ancient aristocracy; with pale skin, long dark brown hair tied neatly back and lavender-tinted eyes identical in shade to Hinata's. That's where the similarities ended, unlike the shy Hinata, he exuded confidence and arrogance. He was at least half a foot taller than Tenten's five-foot-seven-inches, and muscled like a shinobi. All in all, Hyuuga Neji had a very cool, intimidating presence. Unfortunately for Tenten, the look he was giving her could have melted granite.

"What should be interesting?" he repeated, his eyes resting on the arm Tenten had around Hinata's shoulders. Tenten opened her mouth to respond, but Hinata beat her to it.

"Neji-nii-san, this is my friend Katana Toyo-kun, he's new here. Toyo-kun, this is my cousin Neji." Introduced Hinata, "He's a senior, like you Neji-nii-san, and all he meant was that he was glad that we had a class together."

"You've never mentioned a Katana before. Any reason why?" Remarked Neji. He stared directly at Tenten and completely ignored Sakura and Ino.

"Ino-chan only introduced us at the end of the summer." Ino started and stared incredulously at Hinata's lie. And she hadn't even stuttered. _All of our lessons are finally paying off, _thought Tenten smugly, knowing that Ino and Sakura were both thinking along the same line.

"Really? Is that true?" Neji directed the question to Ino without even looking at her, "And what on earth are you doing here? I thought I saw the back of you when I left middle school"

"Of course it's true, Hinata wouldn't lie!" snapped Ino, "As for what I'm doing here," she grinned evilly, "Suna High was no fun, so Sakura and I thought a change of scenery was in order. And what place has better scenery than here?" she waved a hand around the courtyard.

"Fantastic." Neji's tone was completely flat, "I'm sure that the Uchiha will enjoy seeing you and Sakura again." This evoked two completely different reactions from the two girls.

"Sasuke-kun's here?" asked Ino excitedly, eyes sparkling, while Sakura paled and gulped nervously.

"Yes he is. I did tell you didn't I?" asked Hinata, confused. Tenten was completely confused about the thread of conversation. She had heard a little bit about this Sasuke, but it was typical 'cute boy' rants from Ino (i.e. he's absolutely perfect, a prodigy, sooo hot, etc). Sakura hadn't added much to the dossier, for some reason when the topic of Uchiha Sasuke came up she would turn pink and go mute until the subject changed.

"Yeah, you did." Answered Sakura, "I just forgot about it." She looked like a deer in the headlights. Ino, attentive best friend that she was, noticed and put a hand on her friend's shoulder and squeezed it gently. Tenten wanted to ask what was going on, but unfortunately, Neji wasn't finished interrogating her.

"Who are you?"

"Hinata told you, I'm Katana Toyo." Tenten was getting tired of the repetitive conversation with the Hyuuga.

"I mean, where are you from, why are you here, and what do you want from Hinata-sama?" The glare that he gave Tenten made her feel like she was an inch tall.

"I've been at Suna for the last three years, and I decided I wanted to join Konoha on a sports scholarship." Explained Tenten, annoyed. "And what about Hinata? She's a new friend of mine."

Neji didn't respond, he only glared meaningfully at the arm Tenten had around Hinata. Hastily she removed it, wondering if he had a cousin complex or something, since the action seemed to placate the jerk.

"A sports scholarship? For what sport?"

_Definitely a cousin complex._

"Ninjutsu." Neji raised his eyebrows and a slight smirk curled up his mouth. _Why is he looking at me like that??_

"Oh, really?" he asked, "Standards must be falling, you don't look like much. You aren't very tall, and you look pretty wimpy. I doubt you even could make Genin without working yourself to a breaking point." Anger bubbled up inside of Tenten, screaming for her to tear his head off, riddle his body with kunais, knee him in the groin, or just do _something_!

"What can I say? I'm stronger than I look." Tenten said in a pleasant tone, trying not to let her anger seep into her tone. _No way am I going to give him an excuse to widen that stupid smirk._

"Maybe, but I'll have to see about that."

"Why? How are you so important that you have to see--" realization dawned on her. "…you're the captain of the Shinobi team, aren't you?" His smirk widened.

_NO! He widened the smirk!_

"It appears you have brains in your head, so I'll let you off the hook this once."

_Off the hook? How did I get on it? Oh, right, Hinata._

"Look," Tenten held up both of her hands in a 'harmless' gesture, "I'm not about to hurt Hinata. I respect her a great deal, and I'm not about to do anything to her." She wanted to say, 'I don't bend that way' but that would probably just confuse him.

"You better not, if you do, I'll castrate you." Tenten winced, and Neji broke his glare at her. "Why are you here though, Haruno-san?" Tenten noted how he wasn't as curt with her as he was with Ino.

"I wasn't being challenged enough in Suna." Was all she had to say, "And they cut the Sand Kunoichi." That seemed to snag his interest.

"I heard about that. It's a waste of talent in my opinion. The Sand Kunoichi were known for being exceptional." A little bit of Tenten's anger ebbed and she visibly relaxed. This Neji guy might be an arrogant jerk, but he wasn't sexist, that was a relief.

Sakura nodded vigorously "Yeah it was, and since that team was one of the only reasons I liked that school-"

"Hyuuga!" Sakura, Tenten, Ino, Hinata, and Neji all turned towards the interruption. A boy about a year younger than Tenten was heading in their direction. Like Neji, he was very handsome, with spiky black hair and onyx eyes. But it wasn't an aristocratic handsome, it was a more 'bad boy' sort of handsome. Tenten could easily see why girls like Ino would be so attracted to him.

Besides Tenten Ino let out an excited squeal at the sight of him, while Hinata simply shook her head. Sakura, on the other hand, let out a frightened squeak and grabbed Hinata's arm.

"Hinata, we don't have a lot of time before class starts, shouldn't we go try to find the classroom?" Hinata glanced at Sakura, confused. Upon seeing the pleading look in her eyes, she quickly gave in. She knew that look; it was the one she used when she _really_ didn't want to see someone.

"Sure, Sakura-chan."

"Excellent! Let's go!" Sakura grabbed Hinata's arm and promptly ran off, ignoring Hinata's cries of "Sakura-chan! That's the wrong way!" Tenten and Neji stared at their retreating backs, trying to figure out what was going on, while Ino simply shook her head.

"I don't know what Sakura's thinking, she's going to have to face Sasuke sometime." She remarked. At Tenten's questioning look she added, "I should probably go find my own class, I'll tell you at lunch. Bye Toyo-kun!" she winked at Tenten and ran off before she could say anything.

"Ino! Hey INO!" _Don't leave me with the jerk!_

"What was that all about?" Sasuke walked up to Neji, looking from side to side as though searching for something. "I thought I saw your fan girls hassling you."

"No, it was actually your fan girls hassling me. New ones." Had Tenten not been Toyo, she would probably have done something painful to Neji. But for now, she contented herself with an ordinary glower and a clenched fist.

"Fantastic." Groaned Sasuke, then noticing Tenten's presence asked "Who are you? A freshman?"

Annoyed, Tenten retorted, "Actually, I'm a senior. My name is Katana Toyo, I'm new here."

"Katana? Interesting last name. Uchiha Sasuke."

"Nice to meet you." _I think._ Sasuke nodded curtly at her before turning to Neji.

"Hyuuga, class is going to start soon; Ibiki won't be pleased if you are late, even if you are the class president. Even the dobe headed off for class early, and we have Kakashi."

_Kakashi? Isn't that Sakura and Hinata's sensei? Poor Sakura… _

"Don't have to remind me, but it's better than having Gai first period." Tenten, Neji, and Sasuke collectively shuddered. A normally energetic Gai is one thing. A wide awake Gai on caffeine early in the morning is just torture.

"Wait, do you even know who we're talking about?" asked Neji

"He's the guy in green spandex who shouts about youth, right?" Tenten tried to make it sound as though she had seen him around campus. No need to say she had met him before, which would only complicate things.

"Yes, he's the older one."

"There are two of them!" The horror on her face was unfeigned. _Oh that can't be good for the students' health._

"Well one's a teacher and the other one is my roommate, Lee." Neji corrected, "You'll meet him if you try out for the Leaf Shinobi. What do you have for first period?"

"Chinese." Replied Tenten, wondering why he was asking.

"Hn, that's what I have. Later Uchiha." Sasuke nodded and began to head in the opposite direction than the Sakura and Hinata took off in. Neji also started to leave; Tenten had to hurry to catch up to him.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

"To class." He gave her a look that said 'were you so stupid as to not have heard the conversation taking place right next to you?'

"I know that! Why'd you leave without me? I don't exactly know which classes to go to."

"Why not, weren't you here during unpacking day?" There was that are-you-stupid look again.

"I'm only a day student, and my guides ran off." _Because of you and your friend, thank you very much._

"Hn." Neji kept walking, and Tenten took it as a sign that he didn't care too much if she followed him this once. Good thing she had always been a fast walker, since Neji had very long strides.

"Do you know why Hinata hasn't told me about you?"

_Not this again!_

"I don't know, but maybe she forgot. I forget things all of the time." Replied Tenten, trying to sound light hearted.

"Do you really think I'd believe that?" _He's getting fond of that are-you-stupid expression._

"Look, Hinata and I were only introduced a few days ago. She was showing me and Sakura and Ino around. I wasn't hitting on her, besides; she's interested in someone else, isn't she?" Neji gave a slight, reluctant nod. "So you have nothing to worry about!" Tenten really hoped that her sincerity showed through her tone. Having this guy on her back would be a problem if she was going to pull off this charade. For some reason, she felt he could see through her, NOT a good feeling for any girl. Especially for a girl currently in drag.

"Hmph, I'll believe you. For now." Inwardly Tenten let out a sigh of relief. "But any wrong moves and I'll cheerfully kill you."

"Deal." _He can do cheerful? I'd like to see that!_

* * *

"Here we are." They reached the classroom and Neji opened the door and entered, Tenten following close behind.

Students milled around the classroom, chatting easily with one another, getting reacquainted after a long summer. Neji ignored all of the greetings directed at him and made his way to a seat near the back, right next to the window. The instant he sat down, a few girls flounced over to him, yelling date offers and 'Neji-kun!s', completely ignoring the Hyuuga Glares.

_So, the guy has fan girls_, thought Tenten, wincing in sympathy. In Suna, Gaara was the boy with a fan club, and it was a well known fact that the easiest way to get exercise was to run with Gaara while a horde of fan girls were at his heels.

Tenten sat in the row in front of Neji's seat, about two seats over to the right. Almost immediately a boy wearing a suit of green spandex and a bowl cut bounced over to her and declared in a loud, carrying voice;

"WELCOME NEW STUDENT! I, Rock Lee, the Green Beast of Konoha wishes to know who you are!" he gave her a thumbs up and a grin that went _ping_.

_Oh no, Gai has a Mini Me! _Everything about the boy, from the disturbingly thick eyebrows to the shiny smile, was reminiscent of Gai-sensei.

"Um, hi?" said Tenten, "I'm Toyo." She extended a hand and Lee shook it enthusiastically.

"Konoha welcomes you and your wonderful youth!"

"I-I'm sorry, what are you talking about?" _Oh no…_

"THE POWER OF YOUTH! The greatest force in this world!! Only I and Gai-sensei can use it to its full potential!"

_Youth? Oh Gai, how many students have you psychologically tortured and/or brainwashed? _

Lee took a deep breath, about to begin a tirade, when Neji abruptly cut into their conversation.

"Lee, it's too early in the year to be using up your youth. Shut up."

"YES MY ETERNAL RIVAL!!" at that precise moment the door flew open with a loud bang as the bell rang.

A man resembling a bear with many scars and burns across his face strode into the room and turned to face the class. An unnatural hush fell over the room.

"I am Morino Ibiki. I will be your Chinese teacher for the year. Anyone who disrupts this class will have one-on-one detention with me. Anyone who breaks the rules I will not hesitate to give them their due. If I think you've broken the rules, I will interrogate you. And my methods are quite persuasive. Any questions?" Complete silence. "Good, let's go over the rules."

Several threats and orders later, Ibiki started a new track.

"I will pair you up into partners. You will work together for the entire first semester, practicing pronunciation, pin yin, and projects. Any questions?"

Everyone in the room kept their mouths shut.

"Good," continued Ibiki, "Here are the pairs…"

Much to Tenten's chagrin, she was grouped into a group of three with Lee and Neji. She sat a row behind Neji, who was sitting next to Lee and looking completely suicidal.

"You," he gestured at Tenten, "Switch places with me."

"What?" Was this guy actually commanding her to do something? "No."

Neji trained a Hyuuga Glare on her. "Why not?"

_Let's see: you're a freaking control freak, an emotionless bastard, and you threatened me with castration over Hinata! And I wasn't even doing anything!_

"I don't want to get on Ibiki's bad side."

"He won't care."

"Forget it."

"I'll help you with your classes, face it, a group of juniors can't exactly do much."

_Hm, true. _

"That's tempting, but why--?"

"NEJI MY ETERNAL RIVAL! THIS YEAR I WILL FINALLY BEAT YOU!"

_Oh_.

Neji gave Tenten a look that mixed his frustration with something that looked almost like _pleading_.

Tenten may have only known Neji for an hour, but that was long enough to know that if he ever looked like that, she would be severely traumatized.

_Damn him for being handsome and convincing!_

"Fine, but you better not go back on your promise." Tenten warned as she moved her stuff to the seat next to Lee, who didn't look at all put out for being the reason of the switch.

"I won't." That was the last thing he said to Tenten. For the remaining twenty minutes of class he simply stared out the window, while Lee engaged Tenten in a surprisingly enjoyable conversation about Chinese weaponry after noting the picture of a Chinese sword taped onto her binder.

When the bell finally rang, Tenten suddenly remembered something she had been meaning to ask Neji.

"Hey Neji, can I see your schedule?" Without a word he handed it to her and Tenten compared it to hers.

To her complete horror, there were only two classes they didn't share, Social Studies and English.

_You mean I have to spend all day with him!_

"Well?" Neji asked, impatient.

Tenten forced a smile. "Well, that makes things easier. Most of our classes are together."

Neji just 'hnned' and walked out of the door, Tenten following from a distance. .

If she was stuck around a suspicious Neji for hours every day, it was going to be a very difficult year.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh god, I'm so sorry it took so long! Originally this chapter was supposed to also have Sakura, Hinata, and Ino in it with their first class experiences, but the chapter was becoming too long, so I had to cut it. I apologize to everyone who was waiting.

Not to mention my high school is completely evil! Honestly.

Thank to everyone who reviewed, it's deeply appreciated and I have gotten over the 50 mark! Whoo Hoo!

Review!!!! I live off of them!

**Up Next**: Sakura's in hell, Hinata's prone to fainting spells, and Ino is just annoyed.


	5. New Classes, New Problems pt 2

**Just a Note: **The whole Neji being nicer to Sakura thing isn't significant, it just points out that he really doesn't like Ino (she tried to hit on him remember? And he's afraid she'll corrupt Hinata). Just wanted to clear that up, I don't like NejiSaku, one sided or not. It's going to be SasuSaku and NejiTen all the way.

Sasuke may seem a bit OOC here, but only because he is being a complete sadist.

Thank you my lovely reviewers! You have made my day!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto

Here is New Classes, New Problems pt. 2! Featuring the other girls and their mishaps.

* * *

Sakura was not in the highest of spirits. It wasn't the fact she had been forced to double back after going in the completely wrong direction (though she was tired), or that her teacher wasn't even in class yet. It had everything to do with the feeling of complete mortification in the pit of her stomach. 

Uchiha Sasuke was here, at Konoha. The Uchiha Sasuke. The only boy for whom she had ever made a complete fool of herself. She hadn't just been a fan girl; she had been one of the worst ones. Looking back now, Sakura would cringe and wiggle with embarrassment. Didn't she have better things to do?

_Oh why oh why was I such an _idiot!?

**You were twelve, get over it! **Inner Sakura snapped. Running all over campus had put a decisively sharp edge on her tongue.

_You have absolutely no sympathy for me. After being such a fan girl, I wouldn't be able to show my face around him again! _Sakura could feel a blush coming on just from thinking about how besotted she was.

**Just suck it up and ignore him. We probably won't see him very much.**

_Shut up. Let me mope in peace._

"Sakura?" Sakura turned in her seat to face Hinata, who was looking at her anxiously. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Hinata," she gave her friend a small smile, "but thanks for wondering." Hinata raised her eyebrows skeptically and opened her mouth to suggest otherwise, before suddenly clamping it shut, face reddening. Sakura noted a disturbance in the corner of her eyes, and turned to see what had caught Hinata's attention.

"Dattebayo!"

A boy with bright blond hair, whisker marks and blue eyes had bounded into the room, looking around the room in complete excitement. "Is Kakashi-sensei here yet?"

"Are you kidding? The bell hasn't even rung yet! He probably won't come until halfway through the period Naruto!" someone shouted to him.

The blond shrugged, "You never know, last year I almost got busted for being later than he was; I only was late by about twenty minutes." He looked around the room and almost immediately fixated on Hinata. "Hinata-chan! I looked everywhere, but I didn't see you yesterday! Where were you?" he bounced his way over to where the girls were sitting. With each step he took closer to Hinata, her blush grew more pronounced.

_So this is Naruto. _Sakura and Ino had been both shocked and delighted when Hinata announced to them that she had found someone she liked very much. Shocked because Hinata had shown no interest in anyone before that time, and delighted because Hinata deserved whoever she wanted. The only problem was that Hinata was just too shy: she had blushed and stuttered just telling them his name. Sakura had to wonder how the girl kept consciousness around her crush. She concluded that Hinata probably didn't.

"I-I was h-helping Sakura-chan around the school." Said Hinata almost inaudibly, pushing her forefingers together, a habit she reverted to when nervous.

"Who's Sakura-chan?" Naruto's gaze drifted from Hinata to Sakura and back again. "Who's that?" he asked Hinata, pointing at Sakura, his finger just inches from her nose.

Sakura felt her eyebrows twitch. Hadn't anybody taught this boy that pointing was very rude? Ignoring Inner Sakura's suggestion of biting his finger off, she pushed his finger away from her face and smiled at him, "I'm Hinata's friend, Haruno Sakura. Who are you?"

"Uzumaki Naruto! The number one shinobi in all of Japan!" he gave her the peace sign and a toothy grin, "Welcome to Konoha! Where do you come from, Sakura-chan?"

"Suna High before this," replied Sakura, smiling.

"Suna? Did you know Gaara?" Naruto looked extremely excited.

"Yes, his sister is a friend of mine." Sakura laughed as his eyes bulged and his mouth dropped open.

"You're friends with the _**Sand Witch**_?!" he screeched, causing more than a few heads to turn. Sakura opened her mouth to reprimand him, but Hinata beat her to it.

"Don't call Temari-sempai that." Admonished Hinata, a slight frown appearing on her pretty face. Naruto stared so incredulously at her that she reddened and averted her eyes.

"Hinata-chan?"

"I-it's j-just not a very n-nice thing to say." She mumbled, her voice growing softer with each word. Naruto just laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

"I guess not, sorry Hinata-chan. But seriously," he turned back to Sakura, "you're friends with the girl who causes concussions with that fan she carries all of the time?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Nothing, but considering what Gaara says about her, she is just too scary to be anyone's friend."

"Gaara's a younger brother; of course he says those things. You shouldn't believe them all. How do you know him anyway?"

"He's a friend of mine."

"Oh?" _Gaara's never mentioned Naruto before_

"Heh, I was the guy who beat him at the Shinobi games in freshman year, you know, when he was all angsty and emo?"

"Yeah, I remember that." _Ah, so he's the densest, toughest idiot in Japan that Gaara's mentioned._

**He fits the description.**

_I dunno about that, he seems pretty nice to me._

**That is irrelevant, honestly, you should know by now…** Sakura chose just to tune out Inner Sakura and turn her attention back to Naruto.

"…well, he's still kinda emo, but anyway, what did you come here for?"

"For my studies. And the shinobi team."

"Are you going to try to be a kunoichi?" For some ridiculous reason, Naruto looked very excited.

"Yeah,"

Naruto grinned, "That'll be AWESOME! What about you, Hinata-chan?" He turned back to Hinata, "Why won't you try out? I'm sure Neji wouldn't mind." Hinata reddened even more and was about to reply (or Sakura thought she would faint), when an all too familiar voice said, bored;

"Dobe, stop harassing Hinata. Neji will have your neck if he hears anything evenly remotely incriminating." Uchiha Sasuke walked into the room right as the bell rang. Several girls squealed and flocked to the door, all of them trying to gain his attention. He glowered in annoyance and tried to push his way unsuccessfully through the crowd.

"Watch it, teme!" snapped Naruto, "I'm not harassing Hinata-chan!" he turned to Hinata anxiously, "I'm not harassing you, am I?" He was so close to her that the tips of their noses were almost touching.

_Thud _

Hinata fainted.

"Hinata-chan!" yelled Sakura and Naruto at the same time.

"She fainted!"

"Way to point out the obvious, dobe." Sasuke managed to extract himself from his fan girls and had made his way to their little group. Sakura got out of her chair and began to try to revive Hinata, which was not only necessary, but also meant that she didn't have to look at Sasuke.

"Hinata…" she spoke softly, gently tapping the side of Hinata's face with the palm of her hand. As she worked at bringing her friend back to consciousness, Sakura could hear every word of Sasuke's and Naruto's current conversation.

"Who's that?" Sasuke evidently didn't recognize her, much to Sakura's relief. Though how he couldn't, considering her hair color was a little odd.

"That's Sakura-chan! She's an aspiring kunoichi!" Sasuke didn't say anything, but for some reason Sakura felt holes boring into her back. Apparently, she was on the receiving end of one of his famous Uchiha glares. Despite her mind's protests, she felt the skin on her face and neck heat up.

"Hn. I thought so." Sakura stiffened abruptly for a moment, and then went back to her attempts to awaken Hinata, trying to ignore her (she hoped) former crush.

"Thought what?"

"Something your abnormally underdeveloped mind could not grasp."

"I knew what that entire sentence meant! Don't call my mind squishy!

"…I didn't call your mind that. And be quiet, dobe. She's waking up." True to Sasuke's words, Hinata was stirring. Her eyes opened halfway, blinking a couple of times before opening fully. She sat up quickly with a small gasp and blush, looking around the room to see if anyone else had witnessed her fainting spell.

"Hinata-chan, you're awake!" Naruto jumped over the desk and peered so closely into Hinata's face that she almost fainted a second time.

"She's fine, you idiot." Sasuke's hand grabbed Naruto's collar and dragged him away from Hinata, much to her relief and his irritation. To Sakura's annoyance, Sasuke hadn't ceased watching her, even as she ardently avoided eye contact.

"Watch it you bas-"

"Do you really want to finish that sentence, Naruto?" a deep male voice asked. All eyes turned towards the door, where a silver haired man wearing a mask stood, an orange book tucked under his arm and a cup of tea in the other.

"YOU'RE LATE!" shrieked the class.

"Well, there was a student whose pet tarantula got loose so-"

"LIAR!" was the response.

"Fine. Well Naruto?"

Naruto gulped, "No, Kakashi-sensei." He jumped into the seat besides Hinata's and smiled at her, which she shyly returned. Sakura also returned to her seat, keeping one eye on Sasuke as he looked around the room, deciding were he should sit.

_Please behind Naruto, behind Hinata, across the room, somewhere, anywhere, far away from __**me!**_

If Sasuke heard this mental cry, he ignored it, choosing to sit right in front of Naruto, right next to Sakura. Catching her eye, the corners of his mouth tilted up in a barely visible smirk, the one that said _I do remember you, but I think I'll have some fun with your head first before actually talking to you_. It was so obvious, that Sakura temporarily forgot her embarrassment and glared at him. Unfortunately, he just looked even more amused. Irritated, Sakura turned her head to stare out of the window instead, hoping he would take the hint and stop watching her.

He didn't.

_Why is he staring at me? It's getting kinda creeeppyy._

**Because he finally noticed that we're hot!**

_I doubt it; he looks like some predator sizing up his prey._

**That is a good thing, a very good thing!**

_How is being considered prey a good thing?_

**…**

_…on second thought, I don't think I want to know. And I'm not a masochist, and you shouldn't be either!_

"Haruno Sakura?"

Sakura was so absorbed in her thoughts that she almost didn't hear her name being called. A quick jab to her spine by Hinata quickly fixed that.

"Wha? Oh, here." Kakashi nodded and continued to take roll. When he finished, he took out his orange book and began to read it. Sakura wondered why no one was annoyed about it when he began to speak.

**"**Welcome to my math class. For those of you who don't remember, I'm Kakashi, your math sensei. My first impression of you is that I am, yet again, completely surrounded by idiots."

"Ah stow it, Kakashi-sensei. You know you love us!" called Naruto, so loudly that Sakura had to fight the urge to clap her hands over her ears.

"No, as a matter of fact, I don't. Now shut up while I explain everything."

As Kakashi explained the rules and regulations of his class, Sakura felt Sasuke's gaze on her. It was extremely disconcerting, she knew he was still staring at her, but every time she looked out of the corner of her eye, he was looking away.

_Ugh, I just had to have him in my first class ever at this school. _Sakura slumped down in her seat dejectedly. _Why me?_

**It's Fate, darling.**

_I hope not. _

When the bell that signified the end of the period rang, Sakura gathered up her things, determined to make it out of the door and as far away from Sasuke as possible.

She had been almost to the door when Naruto had grabbed her arm and dragged her off to the side to let others exit the class.

"Where are you going next, Sakura-chan?"

"Science with Yuuhi Kurenai."

"Shoot, I have Social Studies. But teme has the same thing; he can show you the classroom!"

_You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me!_

**The hell? That's weird…**

"No thanks, I know where the labs are." Sakura tried to leave again, but Naruto instantly reattached to her arm.

"But Sakura-chan! You'll get lost! Hey teme, get over here!" he shouted across the room to where Sakura presumed the Uchiha was.

"No, I'll be fine. Really!" Sakura forced a smile and tugged out of Naruto's grasp. Once her arm was free, she made a mad dash for the door, only to have her other elbow grabbed by the Uchiha.

"Come on, I don't want to be late." He stated gruffly. Ignoring her attempts to get him to loosen his grip, Sasuke left the classroom with Sakura in tow and several fan girls glaring balefully at her. Naruto grinned nervously at Sakura sent a death glare in his direction as she was pulled out of the room.

"W-why did you ask Sasuke-san to sh-show Sakura the classroom?" Hinata asked timidly, coming up behind him. "He's n-not particularly social, after all."

"Yeah, well, he kept eyeing her all period, so I decided to give him a chance to talk to her." Explained Naruto cheerfully, not noticing Hinata's look of horror. "It's not everyday that the great Sasuke-teme is interested in a girl."

"B-but s-shouldn't you have asked Sakura-chan about if s-she wanted to talk to Sasuke-san first?"

"She won't mind." Insisted Naruto, "And Sasuke won't hurt her, nothing to worry about."

"I-it's not Sasuke I'm worried about," began Hinata, but Naruto cut her off.

"Trust me, it'll be fine. Now lemme see your schedule, I want to see how many classes we have together." Hinata handed the slip of paper to him and Naruto eagerly scanned it, and then let out a delighted whoop.

"Yes! We have three more classes together, Hinata-chan! Including our next one—we should get going!" Naruto tucked his books under one arm and grabbed Hinata's hand with his own and set off in a sprint for their classes.

_N-Naruto-kun i-is touching me!_ The sensation was making Hinata's head feel pleasantly swimmy, and had she not been worried about Sakura's mental health at the moment, she probably would have lost consciousness.

* * *

"You know, I can find the classroom on my own." Sakura remarked offhandedly as she was dragged down the hall, drawing quite a few stares from passer by. 

"Not according to the dobe."

"You took advice from someone you call a dobe?"

"Of course not." They were outside the building and walking down the path towards the science labs.

"The labs aren't hard to find, I could find them myself."

"I know."

"Excellent, now let go of my arm, and I'll get there myself."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I have my reasons." The enigmatic response caused Sakura's blood pressure to shoot up a few notches.

_If I die from stress, I am going to kill Fate in the slowest, most painful way possible!_

Before she could begin to formulate horrible tortures for Fate, Sakura realized that Sasuke's grip had slid from her elbow to her wrist, his fingers brushing the skin of her palm, raising goose bumps. She yelped with surprise.

"Something wrong?" he inquired lightly. His expression was carefully bland, the one Sakura recognized that he used when he wanted to hide his emotions.

_Yes! You are paying attention to me, you are teasing me, and you are a, uh, a what?_

**Sasuke-kun is a complete and total sadist?**

_Precisely. And do not call him 'Sasuke-kun'._

"It's nothing, Sasuke. Let go of me."

"Not until we are inside." They reached the classroom door and Sakura yanked out of Sasuke's grip and practically ran into the room, Sasuke following calmly behind.

_I'm going to go crazy!_

**Crazy is putting it mildly, Sakura-chan. We're going to go insane. Like Sasuke-kun!**

_I despise you._

* * *

While Ino wasn't quite suffering the hell Sakura was, she was certainly almost there. 

Not unlike Sakura, she had gotten completely turned around trying to find her class. But unlike Sakura, she had no Hinata to point out the correct direction, only a very bad map and her own intuition. She found the building her class was located in, only to realize that it was a complete maze of steps and hallways and classrooms, with half a dozen different letter-number combinations jumbled everywhere.

So it was perfectly natural that when she saw someone else wandering the halls of the vast building some fifteen minutes after the bell rang, she wasted no time pouncing on him. Ordinarily she probably wouldn't have gone near this boy (the pineapple shape of his head was for some reason, in the very back of her mind, a very bad thing), but as of right now, she was desperate.

"Excuse me," Ino grabbed on the boy's arm and yanked him around to face her. "Could you please tell me where B-12 is? I'm new and --" _completely lost _she was about to say, when the boy very rudely interrupted her.

"Tch, how troublesome. Find it yourself. It's in the building." He shook her off his arm and continued to walk down the hall.

_Oh no he __**didn't**_ Ino at first only gape after him, before righteous anger settled in and she set after him.

_No one talks to me like that! _

"Excuse me!" she grabbed his arm yet again and turned him around to face her. She let go of his arm and instead grabbed a handful of the front of his uniform, jerking him down so that their eyes were level.

"Wha?" the insolent boy sounded, of all things, surprised.

"You heard me!" Ino yanked on his shirt a bit harder, bringing their faces closer together. "It is common courtesy for a boy to help a girl when she asks for it. Everyone knows that! Didn't your mother teach you manners?"

"She's working on it, the troublesome woman." The boy muttered, one eye twitching. Ino guessed that it had more to with a bad memory than how irritating she was acting.

"What's wrong with being troublesome?"

"It gives me too much work. Now will you please let go of me?"

"Give me one good reason why you can't at least tell me where Asuma-sensei's class is?"

"It's too troublesome to tell you, but I will show you. So just follow me." Ino was startled enough to let go of his shirt. The boy took advantage of the moment and began to walk away again. After a short pause, Ino set off after him.

"Why?"

"That's where I was going."

"…then why didn't you tell me!" Ino was getting quite frustrated.

"You didn't say 'Asuma', you said B-12, which has no meaning to me."

"But if you're in his class—"

"Exactly, I know I'm in his class, I just don't know what room his classroom is."

"Then how is following you going to accomplish anything?"

"I know where he is."

"So what you're saying is, you know where he teaches but you've never, not once, seen what number his room is?"

"That is correct."

"Why not?"

"You ask many troublesome questions."

"So?"

"…" They walked in silence for a few minutes, before Ino remembered something she had forgotten to ask.

"Excuse me, what's your name?"

"Shikamaru." For some odd reason, Ino felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, as though in foreboding what was to come.

"I'm Ino." Ino could've sworn that Shikamaru stiffened slightly, but the movement was so subtle that she couldn't tell. But he clearly didn't want to talk anymore, and Ino was tired of trying to provoke him.

"We're here." They reached the end of the hallway, and Shikamaru grabbed the handle of the closed door and opened it, entering before Ino could. Muttering about lack of chivalry in the modern world, Ino followed him into the classroom.

"There you are Shikamaru!" a man with black hair and a short beard greeted Shikamaru with a cheerful familiarity. "You're almost as bad as Kakashi."

"Sorry Asuma. I slept in. It was the first time all summer that I didn't wake up to my mom's screaming. I just had to take the opportunity." Several students in the class snickered or sighed. A few even murmured 'typical Nara', rolling their eyes as they did so. None of them seemed to notice Ino.

"I can vouch for that," declared a stout boy in the back, "I probably should've woken him up, but he was too stubborn."

"I don't doubt it, Chouji." Answered Asuma, his eyes going to Ino, "What's your name, miss?"

"My name is Yamanaka Ino, Asuma-sensei." Said Ino, giving him a short bow. She decided rather quickly that she liked the man; he didn't scrutinize her, act rude, or anything.

"Ah, yes. You're new here, right?"

Ino nodded.

"Welcome to Konoha Academy. Why were you late?"

Ino blushed "Well, I got lost…"

"Perfectly understandable. I'm sorry about that; the idiots who renovated this building didn't quite understand the concept of lettered buildings. So how'd you find this class?"

"Shikamaru." Asuma's eyebrows rose with interest.

"Shikamaru is this true? You decided that something was actually worth the trouble for your lazy ass?" Shikamaru gave him a look that said clearly 'are-you-an-idiot?' and went to sit next to the boy called Chouji. Ino followed him, not because she wanted to, but because there was only one other seat open, and it was next to his.

"Alright, now that everyone is here, I'll continue with the next rule: Don't be late." Several students in the class snickered at the meaningful glance Asuma sent at Shikamaru and Ino, the former rolling his eyes while the latter gave an embarrassed smile.

Once Asuma had finished reciting the rules (which Ino for once had chosen to listen to, the guy not only had contempt for a great deal of them, but he made the ones he liked sound like they made sense.) he had passed out their textbooks and told them to talk for the remaining half hour.

She could definitely deal with this.

Since the girl-boy ratio was about 1:3, and that the girls present weren't interesting at all to talk to, Ino began to absently flirt with some of the cuter boys around her person. To her delight, most of them weren't just pretty faces. Contrary to popular belief, Ino did have standards; she wasn't easily taken in with good looks.

Behind her, Shikamaru let out a snort as the eighth boy who chatted with her went away looking down hearted. "What's this stupid game you keep playing?"

Ino glowered at him. "What game?" she bit out. This boy was really getting on her nerves.

"You know, leading them on like that, they aren't dogs you know." Ino wondered briefly if she punched Shikamaru, would Asuma notice. Ino glanced furtively at him, he appeared to be rolling a cigarette in the hallway and chatting with the teacher with red eyes and black hair Ino had almost sworn in front of.

"I am well aware of that, though their behavior sometimes suggests otherwise. Leading them on?" Ino raised an eyebrow, "That's not leading them on, genius, that is called 'flirting', a concept you have yet to be exposed to."

"Don't be too sure of that," remarked Chouji off-handedly, eating from the bag of chips he had hidden under his desk, "He's never flirted, but he has had girlfriends."

This information threw Ino slightly off kilter.

"He managed to go through the trouble of having _girlfriends_?" Chouji gave an affirmative nod and Ino turned towards the lazy ass. "Maybe I misjudged you, Shika-kun!"

Shikamaru and Chouji both choked, but the expressions on their faces were completely different. Chouji was holding in barely suppressed laughter; Shikamaru just looked pained.

"_Please_ don't call me that."

"Why not?" asked Ino innocently, "your real name is much longer, so I need to shorten it if I'm going to be talking to you all year. Even if you don't talk back." It hadn't taken much for Ino to decide that she liked teasing Shikamaru.

"Fan-tas-tic." Muttered Shikamaru, leaning back on his chair and closing his eyes.

"Well, I suppose I could call you Pineapple-chan, then, if you don't like Shika-kun." Ino found the confused look on his face immensely amusing.

"Pineapple-chan?" he repeated, bewildered.

"Your hair." Ino reached over and yanked on his ponytail gently. While it was probably a gesture of close familiarity and would be considered a source of gossip, Ino didn't care. For some completely bizarre reason, it was perfectly natural to her. And it was fun.

"I do not have hair like a pineapple." He stated monotonously, not bothering to try to get her hand off his head.

"Actually, you do." Remarked Chouji, cocking his head to one side. "Your head is the fruit, and your hair is the leaves." Shikamaru glared at him.

"Thank you!" Ino flashed a cheery smile at Chouji, who simply grinned back.

"No problem. I've been waiting for someone to notice."

"Sure, take the troublesome girl's side. See if I care."

"Oh stop sulking, it's not like she's your wife or anything. So stop reacting." Both Ino and Shikamaru stared incredulously at Chouji.

"He's _reacting_? He barely did anything!"

"She's my _what_?"

"Yes, that's his way of reacting. You get used to it, eventually."

"You're ignoring my question." Chouji regarded Shikamaru with a look of mild surprise.

"This is new, you actually care about whether I ignore you or not." Chouji smiled at Shikamaru's completely lost expression.

"You used a metaphor that was completely below the belt."

"Aw, is little Shika-kun embarrassed?"

"Please don't start."

"Too late."

"I'm confused. What's the big deal?" Piped up Ino. She honestly couldn't figure out why Shikamaru was so worked up about a little teasing. Sure, Chouji was implying that she and Shikamaru were intimate, but what was so embarrassing about that?

"Nothing you need to worry about. And Chouji, just butt out."

"Fine, but if you and Ino are late again, I will show no hesitation in giving a _suggestion_ as to why you were late."

"Oh? And what would that suggestion be?"

"Ino, you tell him." For one long moment, there was silence. Ino flushed red and opened her mouth, about to give some lame excuse about not understanding either, but Fate intervened.

"Ino? Is that you?" a boy with messy brown hair and fang marks painted on the sides of his face walked up to her. Ino quickly pounced on the opportunity to get out of what had become a very awkward conversation.

"Yeah, that's me!" she grinned at him. "Haven't seen you in a while, Kiba-kun."

"Same here. I'm actually a bit surprised you remember me."

"How can I forget? Sakura and I practically threatened you and Shino to take care of Hinata properly." Ino was glad to see him, make no doubt about that. Kiba was pretty much the only boy she could trust completely to treat any girl, no matter what the girl's disposition, with respect and kindness. His mother and sister were impressive feminists who had drummed it into his head the idea that if he didn't treat women with respect, he would be castrated.

Taking into the fact that his family owned a veterinary hospital, this was _not_ an idle threat.

"Yeah, and we have been. It's fun, playing her big brothers and being able to actually talk to her. She's really nice and funny. Her only flaw is that she doesn't stop talking about the idiot." He brightened, "but you're here now, so Hinata can talk _your_ ears off about Naruto, and I won't have to listen."

"You don't dump her on Hana when she starts? You're even more chivalrous than I thought."

"Sis is in college, she can't exactly be at my beck and call. She has homework and her boyfriend to tend to." Kiba said 'boyfriend' in a very 'ewww' tone.

"Boyfriend?"

"She and the Uchiha started going out around last year." Kiba scowled, "they're getting pretty serious about each other. And I don't want to be related to Sasuke."

"Your sister is dating Sasuke-kun-"

"No NO! Ew, I'd be even more traumatized if that happened. No, the Uchiha has an older brother, remember?"

"No."

"You know the guy with a ponytail and black nail polish called Itachi?"

"Oh yeah! I forgot about him."

"Considering that you have the attention span of a puppy, that's understandable." Ino laughed and punched Kiba lightly on the shoulder.

"Aw, you don't mean that!"

"Yes I do."

"And I mean it when I say you can't hold down a girlfriend!"

"You wound me." Kiba placed his hand on his heart, a fake puppy dog pout on his face.

Ino giggled, "No I didn't. How's Akamaru?" Liking the new subject, Kiba immediately went into a rant about how much his dog had grown, what his dog was eating, how it looked, etcetera, etcetera.

She passed the rest of the period in conversation with Kiba. When the bell finally rang, Ino bid goodbye to her friend reluctantly (with the promise that she, Sakura, and Toyo would sit together with him, Shino, and Hinata at lunch) and pondered the best way to hunt the elusive science labs. Belatedly Ino realized that she probably should have asked Kiba, but he had already left the room. Asuma was no where to be seen either. Only some random boys were in the room, and Shikamaru and Chouji. Ino watched them for a moment, and then just decided to take a plunge.

"Hey guys," she walked up to them, "Would you mind telling me where the labs are? I'm afraid I'll get lost again." Chouji opened his mouth to respond, but Shikamaru beat him to it.

"How many times will you bother me?" demanded Shikamaru.

"As many times as I have to." Said Ino, annoyed. "No need to be so snippy."

"I'm not 'snippy', you are merely being a completely trou-"

Chouji quickly intervened, "Ignore him, Ino. Just follow us, we know where Kurenai is."

"Thanks, but won't you be late for your class?"

"No, we have Kurenai-sensei next too." He picked up his books and headed for the door, Ino following him and Shikamaru lagging behind.

"What's Kurenai like?" asked Ino as they walked across campus.

_Another class with the lazy ass? Grreeaatt._

"Pretty nice, as teachers go. She lets us eat in class sometimes, after we have food labs. Her eyes look kinda creepy sometimes, but you can get used to that. Asuma's crazy about her."

"Really?"

"It's the worst kept secret in the school, well, at least after Jiraiya's crush on Tsunade." Added Shikamaru nonchalantly.

Ino grimaced, "Please tell me you're joking."

"I don't do jokes."

"No, you do that stupid monosyllabic thing. That's _so_ much better."

"Actually, it is." Sacasm was a foreign language to Shikamaru.

"How do you put up with him?" Ino asked Chouji, pretending Shikamaru was an insignificant fly that could not understand a word she was saying.

"He's been my friend since I was a kid. Shikamaru isn't all that bad. And he likes BBQ chips."

"Why does that ma—" A hand was promptly clamped over her mouth. Shikamaru increased his pace until he was abreast with both Ino and Chouji.

"Unless you like getting your ear talked off, I suggest you become very quiet." He muttered into her ear. Ino couldn't exactly say anything while Shikamaru's hand was over her mouth.

So she bit him.

"You two really remind me of some cheesy chick flick, you know." Chouji remarked offhandedly as the labs came into view. "But not the main couple, you know. Just the best friends who won't admit they are being immature kids because they like each other."

"Excuse me, but you are being very rude and upfront about the romantic life of someone you have only just met!" Furious, Ino stalked ahead of them, her back stiff as a rod with anger. The two boys watched as she practically slammed into the door before remembering to actually open it and stomp through.

"Seriously though," Shikamaru said in an undertone, "You are acting overly friendly with her. What the heck are you doing?" an expression of alarm suddenly settled on his face. "Please don't tell me you have a thing for that troublesome girl."

"I don't," Chouji assured his friend, "and I have no idea what I'm doing. But she's familiar to me. Not like those girls you have to watch the way you act around them. She just feels, well, safe to talk to. I don't know why, but she is. Weird, huh?"

"Definitely," agreed Shikamaru, "Almost as weird as that thing about Fate that Neji was ranting about all summer."

"Nutcase prediction if I ever heard one."

"Definitely. This year is going to be normal and relaxing."

"With Ino around?"

"Let me daydream. It's not like we'll be hanging out together all that much."

* * *

Sorry about the wait! I was actually considering deleting this chapter, since it's mostly filler, but I decided against it. 

**Just a note: **There will be smidges of Itachi/Hana throughout the story. If you don't like it, well, just skim the parts. Don't flame me.

**Up next: **Lunch, then PE, where problems arise

Please Review! I love 'em


	6. Lunch, Gym, and Suspicion

A/N: I'm currently very annoyed. I lost everyone's class schedules so I forget who has what with who! Ugh, annoying.

Anyway, I hope Kiba doesn't seem too OOC. In fact, I hope none of the Rookie Nine and Gai's team come off as OOC

* * *

There were two cafeterias in Konoha Academy. One was reserved for the freshmen and sophomores, and the other was for the juniors and seniors. The philosophy behind this arrangement was that, as long as the two groups remained in their respective cafeterias, the younger students wouldn't be in danger of being harassed by the older students. Or at least that was how Hinata explained it to Tenten. 

_With those sorts of ideas, they should just make a different cafeteria for those who are being harassed. Then Neji wouldn't be able to stalk me! _Weird as it sounded, the great Hyuuga Neji was indeed stalking poor Tenten, mostly because she and Hinata were walking to the cafeteria together. Hinata, fortunately, had noticed this, and indiscreetly weaved through the lunch crowd, successfully losing him.

After purchasing their lunches they found Sakura and Ino in a table over to the far left of the cafeteria, just the two of them. Sakura was running her fingers through her hair distractedly as she ranted about one thing or another while Ino listened sympathetically and patted her on the back.

"—he's up to something, I just know it. He never acted like that unless he wanted something! And I don't know what's going on!" Sakura moaned and rested her face on her hands.

"Calm down Sakura!" said Ino, barely acknowledging that Tenten and Hinata had just arrived. "It's only Sasuke-kun! And it's been three years. He probably changed, maybe what his actions meant before, they don't mean the same thing now." Sakura only shook her head and began ranting again.

"What are they talking about?" Tenten asked Hinata, "Ino said she'd tell me, but she's preoccupied. What's the deal with the Uchiha?" Hinata sighed, looked around, and then beckoned for Tenten to lean closer to her.

"Sakura-chan had a crush on Sasuke-san when we were younger, Ino-chan too, but not as big." Explained Hinata in a low voice, "They tried everything they could to gain his attention. At least, they did, until the end of eighth grade."

"Then for some reason, Sakura-chan stopped liking Sasuke-san and instead started to hate him."

"Why?"

"I really am not sure; all Sakura-chan says about it was that she saw his true personality." Hinata shrugged, her slim shoulders going up and down, "But she hasn't ever quite explained it."

"There's a good reason for that." Commented Sakura dryly, smirking a little as her friends jumped and at the sheepish expressions on her friends' faces. "There are some things that just shouldn't be let out into the open air."

Besides Sakura, Ino rolled her eyes. "Stop being such a drama queen, Forehead girl." Tenten had to turn completely around in her seat to hide the grin threatening to split across her face from Ino. It also gave her a chance to see if there was anyone trying to stalk her (namely a certain male Hyuuga with a pinecone stuck in his, well you know).

To her surprise, Tenten spotted two boys making their way over to the girls' table. One looked similar to a dog, while the other, with his high collar and sunglasses, just looked creepy.

Tenten nudged Hinata, "Who are they?" she asked, jerking her head in the boys' direction.

"Ah, that's Kiba-kun and Shino-kun!"

"Those guys are your friends?"

"Yes," Hinata nodded and smiled. "They are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet."

"Really? They don't really look like—" Tenten broke off when the boys came within earshot.

"Hel-lo ladies." Said the brown haired boy, sliding into the seat on Hinata's other side and winking at Ino and Sakura. "Haven't seen any of you in a while." The boy with glasses took a seat besides Sakura, completely silent without even a hello.

"Good to see you again too, Kiba-kun, Shino-kun" said Sakura cheerfully, nodding at both boys, "You guys haven't changed a bit."

"I don't know 'bout that. As Hinata will tell you, I got more roguishly handsome," Sakura and Ino both rolled their eyes and Hinata shook her head, "Aw, don't deny it, you know I'm right! And Shino hasn't talked for the past three years—"

"I would like to protest that." Said Shino, without any trace of emotion in his voice.

"—until this very moment. Would it kill you to cooperate with me once in a while?"

"Yes."

"Thank you for being so tactful." Sniffed Kiba, "By the way, who are you?" the question was directed to Tenten, who was caught slightly off guard. She was silent, re-remembering her lessons to make sure she wouldn't screw up.

"Well?" prompted Kiba, "You aren't mute like Shino, are you?"

"Kiba-kun!" reproached Hinata

"Sorry!" Tenten couldn't help but snicker at how Kiba immediately bowed down to Hinata.

"It's alright." Tenten extended a hand, "I'm Toyo."

"Inuzuka Kiba." Kiba grabbed her hand and shook it roughly. "Where did you come from?"

"Suna High."

"With Ino and Sakura, eh? So, which one is it?"

"Eh?"

"Well, you obviously must be either Sakura's or Ino's boyfriend, so which one of the Flower Sisters has you whipped?" Tenten promptly choked on a mouthful of rice. Sakura and Ino both gagged on their own food, their faces red from lack of breath and choked laughter. Hinata giggled, amused.

"Hey! You okay?" Kiba gave Tenten a good thump on the back, clearing her lungs.

"I'm fine." Tenten assured him, once she had taken a few deep breaths. "And what are you talking about? I'm nobody's boyfriend."

"You sure? Why else would be hanging with a group of girls? Wait," he gave Tenten a scrutinizing glance. "You aren't, um, you know…" he trailed off awkwardly.

"_No_. I'm not, don't worry. I just haven't met any cool guys yet. 'Cept maybe you and Mr. Quiet over there."

Kiba's eyebrows rose, "No one? You haven't met Uzumaki, Nara, or Akimichi yet?"

"I'm a senior."

"Ah, that explains it. No offense, but your class year sucks. But don't worry; we usually hang out with the rest of the Shinobi team. There are some really cool guys there, you'll like them. Ah, look, there they are! _HEY GUYS!_ DID SUMMER SOFTEN YOUR BRAINS OR SOMETHING? OVER HERE!" he called, waving his arms in huge arcs. The group of males he was beckoning to rolled their eyes and walked over to the table. Tenten had to hold back a groan; Neji and Lee were among them.

"That's the Shinobi team?" Tenten heard Ino ask in an incredulous tone.

"Yep." Said Kiba proudly, "You're looking at the best Shinobi team in the whole district. Maybe even in Japan"

"So either the other teams are crap, or the lazy ass is more than he seems." Ino muttered quietly, her entire face twitching. Fortunately, Kiba didn't hear her, or if he did, he didn't comment.

"Who? Shikamaru? He's nice, why do you keep calling him that?" Sakura asked.

"He's a lazy ass I'm telling you! He's a complete, total—"

"What, Ino?" drawled the pineapple headed boy Tenten assumed was Shikamaru, who sat at the table to their left, in the chair farthest away from Ino as physically possible.

"Nothing that you would care about. Hasn't anyone ever taught you not to listen to things not meant for your ears?"

"I've tried, but it's never worked." Commented an orange-haired, big-boned boy with more food on his tray than anyone else Tenten thought was possible. He sat down next to Shikamaru.

"Why not, Chouji?" asked Ino

"He keeps wiggling out of it."

"Have you ever tried tying him to a chair? That could work."

"Maybe, but he would probably wiggle out of that as well."

"HELLO MY FRIENDS!" Rock Lee walked right in front of their table and gave the 'nice guy' pose Tenten had become very familiar with. "Good to see you again, lovely ladies of youth! Particularly you, Sakura-san!" There were hearts in his eyes as he said her name. When neither girl responded, Tenten turned around to face them. Both girls were staring at Lee, open-mouthed with horror.

"Oh, _Lee-san_, what happened to you?" asked Sakura, staring at him as though there was an alien in front of her (though that wasn't far from the truth).

"A most wondrous thing, my lovely Sakura-san! Our new PE teacher, Gai-sensei, is a wonder! He has completely transformed our PE curriculum to better showcase our youth!"

"And that relates to your image change _how_?" asked Ino.

"Because of his wonderful influence, I have chosen to emulate his appearance as a tribute to him!" Once again, Rock Lee gave a grin that went _ping_.

"Ah, emulate, eh?" Sakura muttered in a much lower voice only Ino (and Tenten) could hear.

"No wonder the orphanage didn't let him have Tenten. Eyebrows like that are terrifying." Ino whispered back.

"Maybe that's just Lee-san." Suggested Sakura

"No, this Gai-sensei will have them too. Imagine the bowl cut without them!" Tenten coughed loudly and the hushed conversation came abruptly to an end.

"What do you mean, 'changed the curriculum', Lee?" inquired Tenten politely, as the boys all sat down at the table next to the girls'.

"He has made sure that we use all of our youth in challenging exercises in sets of hundreds and sometimes thousands!"

"Translation: PE has become pure hell!" groaned a blond boy, sitting in the chair nearest to Hinata, smiling at her. The Hyuuga girl quickly colored up, but offered a shy smile of her own. Tenten mentally smiled, recognizing the boy as the Naruto of Hinata's dreams.

"Not to mention," Lee pointedly ignored Naruto's words, "He has done wonders for the Shinobi team."

"Wonders is not the word." Stated Neji, his eyes looking elsewhere. Tenten was grateful that he wasn't sitting near her; he had glared at her too much during Home Economics. Of course, insisting on joining Hinata's group in front of him probably hadn't been the _best_ idea.

"I agree with Hyuuga, pain is more like the word." Said Kiba, shoveling food into his mouth like there was no tomorrow.

"No it's not, dog-breath, you just can't keep up." Taunted Naruto.

"Shut it, Naruto-baka!"

"Is that the best you can come up with?"

"Unlike you, I don't exactly practice my insults! It's only the first day!"

"Why you—"

"So, how _exactly_ has this Gai person changed the curriculum?" Tenten directed her question to the other boys, completely ignoring the arguing of Naruto and Kiba.

"A lot less playing basketball, and a lot more running, push ups, and sit ups. Sometimes we don't even get to the sports." Summarized the boy Ino had called Chouji. He grimaced, "It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't so genuine in thinking that it actually helps us."

"Ugh. And the Shinobi team?"

"That isn't so bad, thank goodness."

"Only because Gai spends most of it challenging Kakashi to pointless contests." Remarked Shikamaru. "I think their last count was eight hundred ninety seven or something.

_So Kakashi-sensei is that rival Gai-sensei always talked about._ Gai, when she had known him, was very fond of ranting about how he would one day beat his 'eternal rival Ka—' invariably, someone would come along and interrupt him right as he was about to declare the rival's name, so Tenten had never learned it.

"Why so interested?" asked Chouji curiously.

"No particular reason," said Tenten, a little too quickly, "but I have friends who've been trained by him, and they usually came back half-dead from his instructions."

"That's Gai." The boys chorused monotonously.

"Hn, he's nowhere near as crazy as that new teacher, that Anko woman, though." Stated Sasuke monotonously, the first time he had spoken. Tenten noted that his attention seemed to be directed in Sakura's general direction, but had Sakura not been cringing ever so slightly, she probably wouldn't have noticed.

"What's she like?" asked Ino curiously, "According to this schedule, I'm stuck with her all year."

"To sum it up: she's more troublesome than you'll ever be." Ino glowered at Shikamaru, but chose to ignore the remark.

"What, is she some militant woman or something?"

" I wish. No, she's just hyper. And strong enough to break concrete walls. I think she's the reason that the food prices shot up so much this year. They had to pay for the damages somehow." Said Chouji, looking at the half eaten mountain of food on his plate a little ruefully. Shikamaru patted him on the back sympathetically. Ino giggled, amused.

"She sounds like Sakura. I probably can handle her the way I handle Billboard Brow over here." She lightly punched Sakura on the shoulder. Sakura scowled, but went back to eating her rice as though nothing had happened. Tenten was surprised at the lack of reaction, but then remembered that Sakura had never been very talkative (or prone to showing her violent side) around people she didn't know very well or didn't like very much.

"Why didja call Sakura-chan Billboard Brow?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Because her forehead could be used to advertise on the highway." Explained Ino, following up her statement with a poke to the so-called-too-big-forehead.

"Watch it, pig." Sakura took revenge with a permanent marker, marring Ino's perfect skin with a black slash across her cheek.

"Sakura!" cried Ino, distressed. She pulled a make up mirror out of her blouse and flicked it open, examining the mark upon her face.

"Nice." Approved Tenten, giving Sakura a high five, laughing slightly.

"You know each other well?" asked Sasuke, his eyes elsewhere, like he wasn't really paying attention. Despite the lack of eye contact, Tenten felt a deep chill run through her body.

Sakura saved her from answering, "Yes Sasuke, Toyo-kun has been our friend for a while, for all that he is a senior. We get along very well, and he actually _values_ our opinions." She gave him a cold smile and returned to her food.

_Woah, she actually had a crush on him a one point? _Tenten was more than a little bewildered. She knew Sakura had a huge range of emotions, but 'frosty' wasn't one that she had expected to apply to the pink haired girl.

"Hn. How would you know that?" It was Neji who spoke this time, his eyes resting on Tenten, the complete blankness of his eyes disturbing her greatly.

"What does that mean?" demanded Sakura, irked.

"It means what it sounds like." Was all Neji would say. The rest of the boys rolled their eyes, except for Lee, though he looked like he might.

_Not again! Ugh, this has to stop!_

"Hyuuga," it felt strange addressing him by his last name, but Tenten continued, "Would you just calm down? I'm perfectly safe." It sounded lame, even to her, but Tenten was having trouble thinking with all of the guys' attention focused on her (except for Kiba and Naruto, who were _still_ arguing. And Shino, who didn't care).

Ino, who had successfully rubbed off the mark on her cheek, spoke up.

"Yeah, what's wrong with Toyo, Neji-kun? Don't you trust my judgment?" Ino pouted and batted her eyelashes 'flirtatiously' at him. Tenten rolled her eyes as Neji, his eye twitching, turned to Sasuke to engage him in conversation. Inwardly, she breathed a sigh of relief and mouthed a 'thank you' to Ino, who simply nodded and turned to Hinata, who had remained silent throughout the exchange.

A tap on the shoulder directed her attention to Kiba, who had finally broken off the argument with Naruto.

"Hey, don't worry too much about Neji, 'kay?" he spoke softly as not to attract attention, "He's like that with everyone who even talks to Hinata. He'll get used to you, don't worry about it."

"I won't. Thanks." She grinned at him. "You're on the Shinobi team, right?" Kiba nodded, "Well, can you tell me what sort of exercises you do?"

"No problem, Katana." Kiba immediately launched into a very detailed description of the training regime, their instructors, etc, etc. Tenten just listened, and occasionally asked questions, for the remainder of the lunch hour.

When the bell finally rang and the group went off in their separate directions, Tenten breathed a sigh of relief and hoped that she wouldn't be stuck in the same situation for the rest of the day.

Sadly, this prayer would not be answered.

* * *

The end of the day finally came, along with the class that Tenten had been dreading more that any other. 

Gym.

It wasn't that she didn't like gym—she loved it—but gym meant uniforms, and locker rooms, and _undressing_ in front of classmates.

Understandably, this was a problem.

But the other reason Tenten was dreading gym was thanks to Gai. Despite his complete strangeness, Gai-sensei was very intelligent and would probably recognize her if she wasn't careful. And there would go her chance to prove she was as good as the boys.

So as she entered the locker room to change, Tenten was reasonably nervous. But to her complete joy, she found that no one else was in the locker room. Taking advantage of the complete emptiness, she changed as quickly as she could, her back to the locker room door.

Right as she was about to pull her shirt over her head, Tenten heard the door open and someone come up behind her. In a nearly apoplectic frenzy, she yanked her shirt over her head and spun around, ready to bite off the head of whoever had entered the room, before remembering that it was a locker room and people were expected to see other people changing.

Inwardly, she cursed that it was also the only person that she really _really_ didn't wan t to almost catch her who had walked in on her.

"What are you in such a panic about?" asked Hyuuga Neji, an irritated look pasted on his face.

"Heh, nothing. Just surprised me, that's all." Tenten put a hand behind her head sheepishly and non-too-gently slammed the locker door shut. Neji didn't even flinch as the sound bounced and echoed around the room. Instead, he went over to some random locker, shoved his gym bag in it and proceeded to take off his shirt, forcing the poor traumatized Tenten to avert her eyes as a slight blush rose on her face. She was used to seeing guys without their shirts on—all of her friends before Sakura and Ino had been male—but she was still a girl (with stupid hormones) and if Neji caught her looking at him, her reputation would take a definite nose dive.

The obvious solution was to get out of the locker room, but Tenten wasn't quite sure she was ready to face Gai just yet.

"AWESOME! The team's all here!"

…But when Naruto and Lee came in waving their shirts like some sort of flag, with the rest of the Shinobi team and other boys thundering in behind them, Tenten threw caution into the wind and ran out of the locker room as fast as her legs could carry her.

The Konoha Academy gym was large and spacious, big enough to hold the whole student population in at any given time. Painted right in the middle of the floor was a giant nine tailed fox, painted dark red, all of its needle sharp teeth revealed in a vicious snarl. Many of the girls had already changed and were seated around the fox, chatting easily with each other. A few eyed Tenten and batted their eyelashes at him/her. Tenten suppressed a shudder and went to talk to her friends, finding them easily (Sakura's hair really came in handy at times like these).

"So you survived Kurenai-sensei, huh?" Ino asked once Tenten reached them.

" 'Survive' is a little harsh, don't you think, Ino-pig?" remarked Sakura conversationally, tying up her hair into a short ponytail, her bangs falling to frame her face.

"Yes Ino-chan, Kurenai-sensei is very nice." Said Hinata softly, her hair also done up in a ponytail, though not messy like Sakura's.

"Whatever," Ino rolled her eyes, "Point is, are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, Ino. Thanks ever so much for asking." Said Tenten sarcastically. Sakura shook her head, held her hand at eye level and pushed it down, as though lowering something. Not understanding, Tenten gave Sakura a confused look. Exasperated, Sakura mouthed 'lower your voice!'

_Oh. Oops._

"So, where are the senseis?" asked Tenten, seating herself besides Hinata. Almost everyone had come out of the locker rooms, including the Shinobi team. From where she was sitting, Tenten could see Neji give her a death glare. She gulped nervously and averted her eyes.

"They are waiting for everyone to come in; Hinata says they address the whole PE period together before giving us a physical 'test'" Sakura said 'test' as though it gave her a bad taste in her mouth.

_Gai-sensei, some psycho woman, and a physical test. This will not end well. _Tenten opened her mouth to voice this thought, before a loud, booming, and all too familiar voice interrupted her.

"ALL STUDENTS TO THE MIDDLE OF THE GYM! PLEASE SPLIT INTO GROUPS BASED ON GENDER!" A larger version of Lee waltzed into the gym with the exact same eyebrows, bowl cut, and too-shiny teeth. That was Maito Gai, not looking a bit different from what Tenten remembered.

All of the students jumped to obey him, dividing into the two groups and seating themselves properly. Tenten found herself sitting between Lee and Kiba, and right in front of Shino and behind Neji, much to her relief (it wasn't like he could see out the back of his head).

"Excellent!" declared Gai, grinning broadly once everyone was quiet, "Now all we have to do is wait for my colleague, Mitarashi Anko, before we can begin!"

_BANG!_

As if on cue, the wall behind him suddenly exploded. Several girls (and boys) screamed loudly as bits of wall flew everywhere. Gai only sighed and shook his head.

"Hello, squirts!" Once the smoke cleared, a woman with violet eyes and hair drawn up in a messy bun became visible. She was grinning broadly and appeared to be in her early twenties.

"Looks like prices are going to go up again," remarked Chouji sadly.

"Anko, I understand that you have plenty of youth to use, and that you must use it, but aren't you overdoing it a bit?" asked Gai, a confused smile plastered on his face.

_A bit? _The entire class period sweatdropped.

"Aw, don't be such a spoilsport, Gai! Anyway," Anko continued, "Shouldn't you be telling these kids how you expect them to use their youth?"

That did it. Gai instantly forgot about the hole in the wall behind him and remembered his most important goal at the moment: explaining to his students the reason that youth was such a good thing.

"Thank you for reminding me! Now, students, the Power of Youth is the most powerful force that anyone can use! People must…" Tenten had heard this particular speech that she just tuned him out, choosing instead to look around at her fellow classmates. Sakura and Ino weren't even bothering to pay attention; Ino had out her cell phone and was playing some game on it while Sakura watched. Hinata, on the outside, looked like she was paying attention, but a second look showed how her eyes were glazed over.

In her own group, Sasuke and Naruto were arm wrestling, with Sasuke winning, of course. Kiba yawned extravagantly and his eyes were half-lidded with sleepiness (though how he could be sleepy with all the noise, Tenten didn't know). Chouji wasn't doing much better, while Shikamaru had actually fallen asleep, his head in his hands. Neji appeared to be sitting completely still and ignoring everybody, along with Shino. Rock Lee was the only one who was listening whole-heartedly to Gai, occasionally joining in the speech with parts of his own.

"—and that's why youth, when used correctly, is a most powerful force!" There was a pause, and the students all relaxed, glad the speech was over.

"Now let us all do 300 push ups!"

"WHAAA????!!!" yelled the students, Tenten included.

_If I didn't already know he was insane, I would certainly think so now!_

"You heard me!" he smiled another dazzling smile. "To figure out if you have been using your youth correctly, I must assess you by seeing how many push ups you can do on my count!"

"Only the boys though," clarified Anko. "Girls, come with me. You won't be doing push ups." Several girls let out sighs of relief, Ino was smirking smugly.

An evil smile.

"No, we'll be working on, ah, _extending_ your range of flexibility."

Despite the fact that she was about to be forced to do 300 push ups, Tenten felt considerably luckier than the girls who were being led to the other side of the gym.

* * *

300 push ups, 1000 crunches, and 250 leg lifts later, Tenten was half dead with exhaustion. Only years of physically conditioning herself had helped her survive the exercises Gai had put them through. Thank _god_ they wouldn't do the endurance tests until the next day. 

Tenten was also grateful she wasn't in her friends' positions at that moment, namely, her back on the floor with her legs right up against the wall and spread as far as they could go, and holding that position.

"C'mon girls! It's a simple exercise! Just because it's called 'Murder' doesn't mean that you should actually act like you're _being_ murdered!" Anko's voice rang clearly through the gym, along with several pained groans.

After a few hundred more painful exercises, Gai declared them 'sufficiently youthful' and sent the boys to the locker room to get dressed. Tenten lingered behind, wondering how she was going to get dressed with all of the guys in the locker room. However, she didn't get enough time to ponder that question when Gai suddenly called on her.

"Katana Toyo-kun, would you come here?" Apprehensive, Tenten walked over to where Gai was standing. She had been doing her best to stay out of his sight the entire period; scared to death he might recognize her.

_Maybe if I look at this like a test, a big, scary, final exam that will destroy me if I fail, it won't be so scary…_

Needless to say, Tenten was a nervous wreck.

"Toyo-kun, I understand that you are new here?" Gai began cheerfully, for once not having a blinding smile, but a regular one.

"Yes, Gai-sensei." Inwardly, Tenten congratulated herself for keeping her male voice level without even squeaking.

"Have you ever been in this part of town before?" Tenten shook her head.

"No, Gai-sensei."

"Odd, I thought your aura of youthfulness was familiar, like one of my students." Gai for a moment looked puzzled, then regained his typical expression. "Either way, I look forward to getting to know you better this year! Your youth is most excellent!"

Tenten could only nod before turning on her heel and running in the opposite direction as fast as she could. Without even bothering to see if the locker room was devoid of changing boys, she grabbed her things and ran out of the locker room, deciding that she could just change at home.

As soon as the bell rang she ran into the parking lot, jumped into her car and drove off, going faster than the speed limit, but she didn't really care. Tenten didn't even stop to think until she was safely in her apartment, with the door locked and bolted behind her.

Without a second thought, Tenten yanked her hair out of its braid, removed the bandages around her torso, and changed quickly into more comfortable clothing. Once that was done she lay back on her bed, turning over the day's events in her mind.

Senseis? _Strange, but manageable._

Homework? _Simple enough, but could take some time, though._

Lunch? _Caution needed, but overall fine._

Gym? _Tricky, will have to be careful._

Hyuuga Neji?

Tenten pondered him carefully before reaching her conclusion.

_Be very, very careful. He is probably going to be a huge obstacle._

Friends?

A smile crept up her face.

* * *

Meanwhile… 

Neji was pondering a confusing situation. And it all had to do with his cousin's new 'friend'.

First, who was the guy? Neji had never heard a thing about Katana before, which was odd considering how he was supposedly was a Shinobi. As captain of the Shinobi team, Neji knew the names of all Shinobi in the region. Or so he thought.

Second, Katana was hanging out with Hinata in a far too familiar manner. No way in hell would he let _that_ continue.

Third, Gai thought he had recognized this Katana, and Gai was many things, but he was seldom wrong about people's faces. There was also the small thing that Katana had looked horrified for a split second before regaining control of his facial expressions.

Fourth, there was something rather 'off' about the guy.

And Neji was determined to find out what that thing was.

* * *

A/N: I'm really sorry about the late update, but I had a hard time being satisfied with this chapter. Writing all of the characters together is really hard! 

**To those wanting NejiTen fluff:** There are a couple chapters to go before Tenten and Neji get fluffy, I'm sorry to say. I want him to meet her as a girl first before getting into the awkward situations.

To those of you who don't know what Murder is, be thankful. It hurts like heck for people who aren't very flexible.

Please review!


	7. Tryouts

A/N: Woah woah WOAH!

I got over 100 reviews in less than ten chapters! Oh YEAH! Thanks to you all and I hope you like this next chapter. I need to warn you though:

Some of the Akatsuki will show up. And they aren't evil or baddies in any way.

Inuzuka Hana will also show up, and there will be drops of Ita/Hana

Neji might be a little OOC

* * *

"So, how do you think she will do?"

"Judging by these video feeds, pretty well."

"Yeah."

A pause.

"Hey sis?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you put a camera in the boys' locker room?"

A loud _thwack,_ followed by a pained "OW!"

"None of your business. Now get out!"

* * *

There was a sign on the bulletin board just outside the main office, with a sign-up board pinned just beneath it.

**Shinobi Tryouts**

**This Saturday beginning at 9:00 am**

**Meet on the Field. Lateness not Tolerated (includes instructors)**

**--Hyuuga Neji**

"Finally, it's about time!" declared Tenten, grinning. Two weeks had passed since the dreaded first day, and all four girls had finally gotten comfortable with the school and their deception.

"How did Neji become captain?" asked Ino, wrinkling her nose as though she could not imagine a more distasteful idea. "Don't you need leadership qualities, like, oh I don't know, the ability to get along with others?"

"Maybe, but who else would take the job?" asked Sakura, "It's an enormous responsibility." Hinata nodded.

"H-hai. It takes up most of Neji nii-san's spare time." She agreed.

Tenten sighed, "It would be nice though if someone without a grudge against me could be captain." While Neji no longer was stalking her (having been persuaded that "Toyo" wouldn't hurt Hinata), Tenten still caught him eyeing her suspiciously at times. "It would make what we're doing so much easier. Ah well." She grabbed the pen dangling besides the clipboard and wrote her name in clear handwriting. Once done, she dropped the pen and turned to stare pointedly at the other three girls, who hadn't moved.

"Well? Aren't you going to sign up?" she demanded. Sakura fidgeted nervously with her book bag, while Hinata avoided Tenten's eyes. Neither girl wanted to make a scene.

Ino, however, had no such qualms.

"One problem: the lazy ass!"

"Oh come on, it's not like Shikamaru actually does anything to you!"

"Then how is it that I'll be seeing him and Chouji every weekend _for the rest of the year_!"

"You already told me!" When Tenten had picked up the phone a couple of nights ago, she had almost gone deaf from the shrieks and cries Ino was declaring. She had been forced to listen to a very detailed recounting of the following conversation:

_FLASHBACK_

_"Hey Ino,"_

_"Yes, Daddy?"_

_"You know that boy you were complaining about, that Shikamaru fellow?"_

_"What about him?"_

_"Remember my old friend Nara Shikato?"_

_"Yeah, the guy who smoked and had a really nice wife?"_

_"Yes, remember their son?"_

_"Yeah, I hated him!"_

_"Well guess what?"_

_"What? Oh no…"_

_"Shikamaru is—"_

_"Don't say it Daddy!"_

_"Shikato's son is Shikamaru!"_

_"NO!"_

_"And I just got in contact with him and the Akimichi, and we agreed that we need to have a few reunions to catch up! Isn't that great? We haven't seen them in years!"_

_"…"_

_"Ino? Why are you shrieking into your pillow?"_

_END FLASHBACK_

"Ino-pig? Technically, you brought that on yourself."

"I know that! So it is only natural that I avoid all situations that mean I have to be in a room with him." Despite the firmness of her voice, Ino seemed to shrink under the look Tenten was giving her.

"You don't have to talk to him or anything, just join the team!" Tenten had to work hard to keep the pleading in her voice sounding masculine. It wasn't easy. Men didn't plead in front of women. They groveled.

"How can I not talk to him?"

"He's always avoiding you! It's _easy_!"

"Nuh uh," disagreed Ino, "That's worse! It makes me want to talk to him!" Tenten had to concede that Ino had a point. There was just something irresistible about doing something because someone doesn't want you to do it.

"Come on, Ino! Do it for me?"

"I need one good reason."

"There are a lot of hot guys on the team." Offered Sakura, noting that Tenten had drawn a blank.

"Hah. You'll need to do better than that, Billboard Brow!"

"I'll let you pick out three stuffed animals from my collection." Ino considered the offer carefully.

"Even the boars?"

"Even the boars."

"Well, that would be nice. On second thought, maybe signing up won't be such a bad thing." That did the trick.

"Good." Tenten turned to Sakura, "What's your excuse?"

"He's antisocial and a jerk. Guess who."

"Hyuuga Neji?" joked Tenten, chuckling. She quickly shut up; however, at the look Sakura was giving her.

"Ha, ha. No. Uchiha Sasuke, the psychopath."

"I thought you said he stopped bothering you?" asked Hinata, blinking curiously.

"He has! Well, sort of." Sakura muttered quietly. In an even lower voice she added, "But he keeps staring at me, and acts like an arrogant ass if he catches me just glancing in his direction. It's creepy! And annoying."

"Sakura," the expression Tenten wore was dead serious. "You have the option of slapping his face off if you get angry. In case you haven't noticed, Neji has been stalking me, and if I try that, he'll knock out my teeth and leave me to pick them up!"

"I guess so, but I still don't wanna have more contact with him than necessary."

"Forehead girl, you have to do this! Just pound him with your super strength if he bothers you. Just don't touch his face, of course."

"_Ino_." Sakura made a great show of rolling her eyes. Tenten had to fight hard not to copy the gesture.

"Hey, just cause you don't like him, you can't deny that he's eye candy!" Sakura flushed red at the statement, while Hinata was wearing a rather odd expression on her face. Tenten actually did roll her eyes at this statement.

"Sakura, please?" begged Tenten, "At least try out."

"Sorry Tenten, but I really don't want to talk to him." Sakura made to turn and walk away, but Ino grabbed her by the shoulder before she could get further than a few steps.

"Forehead girl, if I can do this, so can you!" Tenten could detect the maniacal glint in Ino's blue eyes. "You will suffer what I will be forced to go through!"

"Not my fault you accept bribes, Ino-pig."

"Maybe you don't, but I know you accept blackmail." Ino smirked triumphantly at the look of utmost loathing on her best friend's face.

"You wouldn't." Ino's smirk widened

"I would, I've always wanted to use those photos for something." Tenten had a vague inkling about what they were talking about, and couldn't help but feel very sorry for Sakura, and very grateful that she hadn't known Ino very well during that time.

"Ugh, fine." Sakura cast a furtive glance at Ino, "Where are these pictures, just out of curiosity?"

"Somewhere you would never guess."

"Oh really?" Before Sakura could start anything, Tenten quickly intervened.

"Both of you just be quiet and sign the stupid board!"

Both girls stared patronizingly at her.

"Yeesh, someone is having personal PMS pains!" Nevertheless, Sakura and Ino both jostled for the pen and signed their names. Then, as one, all three of them turned on Hinata.

"I-I'll mess up somehow a-and embarrass m-myself." Hinata stammered out quickly, not waiting to be interrogated. "No th-thanks."

"Hinata!"

"I-I mean it. I won't do it."

"But Hinata, what about Naruto?" asked Sakura.

"Eh?" Hinata blushed prettily at the mention of her crush, "Wha-what about Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah! What about me?" Tenten, Sakura, and Ino all jumped at the sound of Naruto's voice, staring at the boy who had come up behind Hinata. Oblivious to both the stares and Hinata's sudden rigidness, he placed a hand on her shoulder and rested his chin on the crook of her neck, looking over her shoulder. "Hey Sakura-chan! Hinata-chan!"

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" asked Sakura, her eyes on Hinata, who didn't seem to be breathing.

"Are you here to sign up, Naruto?" asked Tenten, hoping the boy would let go. The blond boy nodded happily and withdrew his hand and chin from Hinata, who remained frozen, immobile.

"You guys signed up already?" he asked rhetorically, reading the list of names, "Hey—where's yours, Hinata-chan?" He turned to look at Hinata, who hadn't moved an inch, despite Ino's prodding.

"She doesn't want to." Tenten explained quickly, waving a hand in front of Hinata's face, hoping the girl would snap out of whatever stupor she was in _quickly_.

"Really? Why not?" He pouted appealingly at Hinata, coming right up in her face. "Why aren't you going to try out, Hinata-chan?" Hinata tried to speak, but she was so overwhelmed that she could only stammer.

"I-I j-just d-don't r-r-really w-wa—" Despite her situation, Hinata's stuttering was really too much, and Ino quickly took over the interrogation, forcing Naruto to look at her.

"She wants to be moral support, not an actual fighter." She explained airily, flapping her hand as though such information was insignificant. Tenten figured that Ino hoped Naruto would take it that way and drop the topic before Hinata suffocated.

Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"_NANI!_" He turned back to Hinata, " But _why_?"

He sounded so pathetic that it was almost funny. Hinata blushed and looked at her feet, mumbling incoherently. Naruto did not seem to hear her.

"Are you sure? Come on! It'll be fun! Besides, you never give up! And you promised me you would!! Plleeaasse?" He gave her puppy dog eyes. Not even Gaara would have been able to resist them.

"Ah, okay, I guess." Murmured Hinata quietly. She looked completely overwhelmed by Naruto's presence, as well as his smile, which at that moment could have rivaled Lee's. Without the ping, of course.

"Yes! Thanks Hinata, you won't regret it at all!" Without another word, Naruto scribbled his and Hinata's names on the board, gave Sakura a quick hug and bounded off, yelling for Sasuke (or to put in his words, "Teme you bastard!"). The girls were left standing there stupidly, staring at the bulletin board.

"Well," said Tenten, trying to break the silence, "I guess that's settled. We're all signed up." Ino gave her a look.

"Good. Come on, we need to get to the library." Sakura shifted her messenger bag so the strap was more comfortable on her shoulder, "And while we're at it, Hinata, we really need to teach you to stand up to brutal conditions."

"I-I already train with Neji nii-san." Ino and Sakura shook their heads and slung their arms over Hinata's shoulders, grinning like Cheshire cats.

"She's not talking about Shinobi, Hinata." Explained Ino, wagging her index finger, "She's talking about the brutal conditions of being in close contact with the member of the opposite sex you find most attractive." Hinata went a wonderful shade of magenta as Sakura and Ino cackled. Tenten only smiled.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Tenten as the four girls began to head towards the Academy library, the other three managing to somehow walk while remaining linked together. "Neither of you seemed to have fared especially well in that area."

Sakura, who was closest, smacked Tenten upside the head. The brown-haired girl almost retaliated, but remembered in time that guys did not hit girls, no matter how much the girls deserved it. Judging by the smile on Sakura's face, she remembered it too. Tenten had to settle for shaking a fist at the girl instead.

"Ooh, big tough guy, aren't 'cha, Toyo-kun?"

Thankfully, there were no rules against chasing girls around the campus and into a fountain.

So Tenten took that alternate course of action.

* * *

Despite her excitement, Saturday came much too quickly for Tenten;s tastes. Tenten woke up at six, exactly three hours before the tryouts would begin. Annoyed, Tenten got out of bed, wondering why she could never sleep in when she had the opportunity. Biological clocks were a real pain.

Once she had gone through her morning routine, rather slowly (hey, she had two and a half hours to kill), Tenten changed into a boy, pulling on her PE uniform and a sweatband around her head. Grabbing a small, plain backpack, she stuffed in her cell phone, a cache of sharp (but duller than she would have liked) weapons, and a first aid kit. After her experience with the Kunoichi and watching Kankuro try out for the Shinobi, Tenten knew how brutal tryouts could get.

At eight-thirty Tenten left her apartment and drove over to the school, arriving with at least twenty minutes to warm up. To her surprise, Tenten discovered that at least twenty people had already arrived, mostly boys, all stretching and talking with one another. The boys trying for Chuunin were over on the left side of the field, while everyone else was on the right, trying out for Genin. The few girls who were trying out were on that side, including her friends. She made her way over to them.

"Oi," All three girls started and twisted around to look up at Tenten.

"Oh, it's you, Toyo-kun." Said Sakura, her wary expression turning into one of relief.

"Duh, who else could it be?" Tenten dropped her bag and plopped down besides her.

"Well, he has black hair—" began Ino, but Sakura clapped a hand over the blonde's mouth before she could continue.

"No one special." She said, a little too quickly, "But you've been imitating Neji a lot, did you know?"

Had Tenten not remembered to keep control of herself, she would have screamed a very girly scream. As it was, she managed to gag.

"Please tell me you're kidding."

"No, she's not. You have been talking like Neji nii-san." Hinata confirmed, stretching her arms up and over her head.

"I have?!" _Ew ew eewwww!_

"Not all the time," said Sakura quickly, "But sometimes you've been imitating a couple of the guys' mannerisms."

"And you haven't mentioned this to me _why_?"

"You have more than enough to worry about." Said Ino practically, "And it's not something you can consciously improve. Besides," she winked, "People say that you emulate those you admire."

"…I didn't have to hear that. Where is everybody, anyway?"

"Most of the guys are over on the Chuunin side, but the ice blocks are somewhere talking with the Akatsuki. No, wait, they're coming over here." Tenten turned to see the two familiar boys followed by seven unfamiliar young men and women Tenten had never seen before. Judging by the sudden whispers and excited glances from the other Shinobi hopefuls, Tenten guessed that they were the Akatsuki. Not to mention the slightly intimidating aura that surrounded them.

"ALL YOUTHFUL SHINOBI HOPEFULS PLEASE GATHER IN THE FIELD!"

Guess who.

Gai, holding a horn speaker, had somehow magically appeared on the field and began to cheerfully herd the hopefuls into a group in the center of the field. Tenten wanted to kick something. Hard.

Besides Gai, Kakashi had his nose in a book and seemed completely oblivious to the noise. Tenten, Sakura, and Ino had all unanimously decided that nothing could distract Kakashi from his books.

However, he wasn't deaf. "Gai, why do you have a horn speaker when you don't even need one?"

"BECAUSE IT GOES BY THE BOOK, OF COURSE!" Gai cheerfully poked the horn speaker right next to Kakashi's ear as he shouted. Everyone else on the field plugged their ears and grimaced comically.

"Gai, would you mind?" Neji was the only one who hadn't covered his ears. But when he turned his head, earplugs were visible.

"OF COURSE MY STUDENT!" Gai threw away the horn speaker (to everyone's relief) and exited to the side of the field, challenging Kakashi to some challenge or another. Neji rolled his eyes and turned to the chittering crowd, who immediately became silent.

"I already know why everyone's here, so this will be brief. After our endurance and strength tests, you will divide into two groups. Everyone trying out for Chuunin will go over to that side and split into four groups. Deidara, Kisame, Pein, and Sasori will be your opponents and will judge how well you do in ability and improvisation. Genins will go to the right and will be tested by myself, Gai, Kakashi, and Itachi. All girls trying out will be tested by Anko, Konan, and Inuzuka Hana."

Neji pointed to each one in turn. All of the Akatsuki boys nodded apathetically. The blue-haired Konan, on the other hand, smirked as she glanced over the girls, and Hana grinned wolfishly at them and yanked on Itachi's ponytail. The older Sasuke-version didn't protest, but seemed rather resigned to the action. Glancing over at Kiba, Tenten noted that the boy was seething quietly, hackles raised.

"You are free to leave if you can't handle the strain. For our first tests, you will be doing an endurance run…"

* * *

Two hours later, Tenten was dead exhausted and questioning her own sanity.

_You just had to choose the school with a screwy captain and insane teachers. Smooth, Tenten, real smooth._

First, Neji put all of them to a mile endurance run, which everyone had to make in less than nine minutes, with five minutes and six minutes as the desired goals for boys and girls respectively. And as 'motivation', Anko ran with them, outstripping everyone except the fastest boys.

After a fifteen minute cooling period, Neji put the boys to push ups, sit ups, and other painful activities for at least an hour, while the girls did flexibility tests under the supervision of Anko, Hana, and Konan. Tenten half-wished that she was with them, as the girls' raucous pep talks were much easier to bear than a critical Neji. He was especially harsh with his criticisms of Tenten, almost always watching her closely; even when she thought he was looking away. It was disturbing enough to make Tenten wonder if Neji really did have eyes in the back of his head.

Once the exercises were done, there was yet another break before the real test began. Tenten joined the Genin wannabes and they watched their fellows go up against Neji, Itachi, Gai, and Kakashi. It wasn't very interesting, considering that most Genin were knocked flat on their backs in less than a minute. But some Genin wannabes, like Shikamaru and Chouji (who Tenten couldn't figure out why they were trying out for Genin, considering they made the team as Chuunin last year), were able to last for a longer period of time. In fact, Shikamaru almost defeated Kakashi, which had _definitely _been interesting.

Finally, it was Tenten's turn.

"Katana, you're up." Called Kakashi. Tenten stood up from the bleachers and walked onto the field. She turned to look at her opponent and stifled a groan. Of course her _wonderful_ luck would ensure that she would go up against the Hyuuga.

"Alright you two! Toyo-kun, good luck! Go!" Gai stepped back as the match began.

Neji immediately disappeared. Tenten looked around wildly, her brain not catching up with her movements. She only realized he was coming towards her from the left about a split second before Neji swung his fist in her face. She ducked, and swung her right leg up and around so that it connected with his back, sending him plowing into the ground.

Or at least, that was what the move was supposed to do. Unfortunately, Neji evaded her foot and grabbed her ankle with one hand, the other flying to her neck and forcing her on the ground on her back.

"Is that all you have?" he asked, annoyed. Tenten treated him to a feral smile.

"Not even close." Tenten slammed her other leg into the side of Neji's face, forcing him to let go of her neck. She flipped back up into a standing position and was quickly engaged in a taijutsu dance with Neji. He moved so fast that it took all of Tenten's strength to dodge the blows.

_Damn, I wish I could use my weapons! _Unfortunately, weapons were strictly against the rules for both Shinobi and Kunoichi, except in demonstrations.

_Ugh, just pin him down and get it over with! _Shouted the voice in her head.

Tenten back flipped out of the taijutsu dance and hurtled herself at Neji, successfully punching him in the abdomen. Much to her annoyance, there was still no emotion on the Hyuuga's face.

This lack of concentration caused her to falter, and Neji quickly took advantage of the pause. Once again, Tenten found herself staring up at the Hyuuga's face.

"End of match!" called Kakashi. Neji stood up and offered a hand to Tenten, who took it after a moment's pause.

"Good job, Katana." He said, surprising her. As Tenten walked back to the bleachers, past Itachi, she noticed that he was scrutinizing her carefully. But it was only for a moment, as his attention was diverted by Hana jumping onto his back, arms around his neck, asking about the "scrawny bits of freshmen", and tugging on his ponytail. Nevertheless, Tenten kept a wary eye on the elder Uchiha for the rest of the tryouts.

She didn't notice Gai thoughtfully watching her, an unusually serious expression on his face.

* * *

Once everyone had been tested, Neji gathered all of the Shinobi hopefuls into the center of the field.

"You all did reasonably well," he told them, "But to any of you who make the team; expect these exercises every time we have practice and expect to use up most of your spare time with sparring and getting better. Results will be posted by Wednesday. All of you are dismissed." The crowd dispersed. Tenten went looking for her three friends, and soon found them talking animatedly with Inuzuka Hana.

"It's nice to meet both of you in person," Tenten heard the brunette say as she came closer, "Hinata-chan talks about you a lot."

"Really?" Ino asked, "I find that hard to imagine. Normally it takes everything we have to get her to say even one word." She nudged Hinata, who only shrugged and smiled.

"Shame your friend Tenten doesn't come here. I would've liked to meet her." Tenten mentally did a double take.

"Well, she didn't really have the money to come, so she stayed at Suna." Explained Sakura, not a single facial expression giving away the lie, "But you would like her." She caught sight of Tenten, "Ah! Toyo-kun! Get over here!" Hana looked up and over to Tenten, who for a moment had the distinct, uncomfortable impression that the woman was looking through her.

Then Hana smiled Kiba's smile, and Tenten's mind was instantly eased.

"You're Katana, aren't you? Kiba-kun's told me about you, and I saw your fight with Neji. Very commendable."

"Thank you."

"And that goes for you girls as well. You three are definitely going to make it." A frown appeared on her pretty face, "But I'm not sure about the rest of the girls who tried out. They acted too frou-frou about the whole thing, in my opinion."

"I'll say," agreed Konan, coming up from behind Hana, besides the boy with orange hair and piercings called Pein. "Hana, everyone's heading to the Ichiraku's. Would you like to come with us?"

"Depends. Who's paying?"

"Deidara lost a bet with Sasori, he's paying." Konan smirked, amused.

"Sure, I'll come. But first I need to talk to Itachi, he's my ride."

"Fine. But hurry, all right?"

"Gotcha. Later Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, Toyo-kun!" Hana ran off to where Itachi was talking to Neji.

"By the way, good luck." Konan addressed all of them, but her eyes lingered on Tenten, sending a chill through her spine. She couldn't help but feel grateful when Pein put a hand on Konan's back and steered her away from them.

"Well, they certainly are an odd couple," remarked Ino as soon as said couple was out of earshot, "The classy girl and the bad boy."

"Sounds awfully clichéd to me." Said Sakura.

"Clichés, my dear, run this world. Don't you agree, Hinata?"

"Not really…it seems too abstract a concept for me to grasp. After all…." The conversation continued, but Tenten heard none of it. All she knew was that the small sphere of apprehension had curled in her stomach, and it had nothing to do with how she did at the tryouts.

* * *

Wednesday finally came.

Tenten pushed through the ridiculously huge crowd looking at the list of who made it, and with a feeling of dread, scanned the list of Genin. She found Sakura's, Ino's, and Hinata's names, but not hers. She felt her heart sink. All of that effort, and for nothing.

Besides her, Shikamaru took one look at the results sheet and groaned.

"Looks like you, Chouji, and I got the short end of the stick, Toyo. We made Chuunin instead." Tenten's mood went from depressed to very, very surprised.

"Eh?!" Tenten hadn't even looked at the list for Chuunin and now she did, scanning it carefully. Sure enough, 'Katana, Toyo' was just under 'Inuzuka, Kiba' and above 'Nara, Shikamaru'. Tenten's mood went from relieved to complete delight.

_I got in! I got in! I got iiiinnnnn!!!!!_

"Unfortunately, Shikamaru, the wannabe Chuunin turned out to be very lacking this year." Came Neji's smug voice from behind Tenten, "And everyone knew you were slacking, so there you are. And by the way, Katana,"

"Yeah?" Tenten turned to face him, unsure whether she should be wary of him or grinning at him for letting her on the team.

"When we start practice, you'll be sparring with me and Lee from now on. Got it?" Tenten was silent for a full minute as she processed the information.

"Why?"

"You have a style that fit with our respective styles, it will make things easier."

"Ah, got it." _Why is he staring at me like that??!!_

Thankfully for Tenten, a loud "WE MADE IT HINATA-CHAN" diverted Neji's attention to Naruto, who was jumping up and down and hugging Hinata so tightly that she looked ready to pass out.

"Class starts soon. Now if you would please excuse me," Neji brushed past Tenten, cracking his knuckles. Tenten took his not-advice and headed to class, ignoring the urge to watch the fireworks.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Tenten was in a state of complete ecstasy. Even the horror of slicing up a dead pig fetus couldn't hurt her mood. All she could think of was that her goal was halfway complete.

During PE, the boys of the Shinobi team congratulated her, as did Anko and the girls. So when Gai called her to stay in the gym, she assumed that he wanted to talk to her about the Shinobi team.

"Toyo-kun?"

"Yes, Gai-sensei?" Tenten felt a little fear crawl in her stomach at the look Gai was giving her.

"Why is it that you are not Toyo-kun?"

The fear turned icy cold. "W-What are you talking about?" _Damn the stutter!_

"Tenten, what on Earth are you doing here? And like this too?"

_Crap, he knows!

* * *

_

A/N: Cliff hanger, I know. Sorry, but I planned the cliff-hanger in advance, and it seemed a good place to stop.

Sorry for the late update, school's on my case lately. I barely have time to breathe. So expect the next chapter to be late (it's the carnival scene) because so much is going on. But I'll do my best.

Please review. I really didn't like this chapter, did you?


	8. Fun at the Carnival pt 1

A/N: I feel blessed to have so many reviewers, thanks to you all!

* * *

"_Tenten, what on Earth are you doing here? And like this too?"_

As far as Tenten could tell, she had two options: either to explain the truth to Gai, and hope he could keep a secret, or deny it so vehemently that he wouldn't believe her anyway.

Unfortunately, both choices had similar results.

_I really hope he understands why I'm doing this…_

"They shut down the Kunoichi team at Suna, and me, Ino, and Sakura weren't allowed to try out for the boys."

"I heard about that," Gai's impossibly bushy eyebrows rose, "But since when did you start dressing like a boy? I know boys generally have more youth than girls, but there are easier ways to gain—"

"No, that's not it!" Tenten smacked her forehead, "My friends and I came up with a plan to prove that we were as good as the boys, and it involved me being like this." Tenten spoke quietly, despite the fact there was no one else in the gym. "Are you going to tell?"

Gai regarded her with a slight smile, "Tenten, you've been fooling people left and right about your gender." He also spoke quietly, "And clearly, you've been working hard. Why would I unravel all of that? Besides, you have a point."

"So you won't tell." Tenten shoulders sagged, she felt relief course through her veins.

"No, I won't." His expression became serious, "But you need to start exercising more caution. Use more generic Shinobi moves. The moves I taught you gave you away to me, and thank God that Lee can keep a secret—"

"Lee knows!" Tenten almost screamed. _Damn!_

"No, no, he only knows that you are a former student of mine, he doesn't know who you are exactly."

"Does he know my gender?"

"Not yet. Lee, thankfully, is incredibly naïve at times. Youth it seems, does not help observation skills." Tenten sighed in relief. "But he'll be watching you carefully. I generally do not take on private pupils, and he will wonder."

"I know," Tenten assured him, "I'm just glad that you aren't about to rat me out."

"I told you, you have good reasons and I'm not about to unravel results achieved by solid, hard work. But I warn you, things are about to become much more complicated. You'll have to be very careful." Tenten nodded solemnly.

"I know."

"Good. Now go get dressed—no, wait…" Gai suddenly looked slightly disturbed. Tenten couldn't really blame him.

"Can Shinobi wear their gym uniforms to practice?"

"Only until they get their official uniforms." He had a very odd look on his face. "How have you…"

"I'd really rather not talk about it, but a lot of hiding and hurrying."

"Understood. I think."

Gai still looked disturbed, and Tenten quickly slipped into the almost empty locker room. She was practically giddy with relief, Gai wasn't about to tell, she was going to be safe…

…But she still had to be careful, more so than ever. The more people who knew her secret, the more difficult it would be to keep it a secret. Gai and Lee would probably stay on her side, but who else would?

* * *

The only thing that Tenten didn't like about Ninjutsu was how there was always at least a couple of months of conditioning, with no matches in sight. But to her surprise, she found she rather liked sparring with Lee and Neji. Unlike Kunoichi, the Shinobi sparred in groups, each one with their own instructor suited to their style. 

Tenten had assumed, considering how all the girls were Genin, they would all be grouped together. To her surprise, this was not the case.

"We need to have everyone grouped equally, with strengths that play off one another." Neji explained to her while they sparred (Gai was keeping Lee busy), "It does not matter what level they are at, if they can function well and learn how to counteract their weaknesses, and they will be fine."

"But most matches are one-on-one, why does it matter so much?" asked Tenten, trying to sweep Neji's feet off of the gym floor. Quick as ever, the Hyuuga jumped and kicked her in the stomach. It wasn't especially hard, so Tenten landed on her feet, only stumbling slightly.

"I'm not sure, but it helps teamwork."

"You sure?"

"Assuredly so."

"Even when Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto all on the same team?" Her question was conveniently followed by a loud "NARUTO! SASUKE! IF YOU TWO WON'T STOP TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER, I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!"

"Their skills mesh well together." Neji turned to look where Tenten was looking, at a boiling mad Sakura smashing her teammates' heads together with a sickening crack. Everyone who was watching winced sympathetically as the boys' hit the ground.

"But their personalities certainly don't." Tenten commented. Sasuke had gotten up off of the floor and was now arguing with Sakura. They weren't being loud enough for Tenten to hear, so she couldn't discern their topic of choice. But whatever it was had Sakura gesturing extravagantly and Sasuke obviously aggravated.

"A factor of little consequence." Tenten opened her mouth to disagree when Ino rudely interrupted her.

"Hyuuga, just because you don't have a personality doesn't mean everyone else is so blessed. _We_ have to deal with bad chemistry." Snapped Ino, pausing in her throttling of Shikamaru. Asuma and Chouji tried to free the boy from her clutches, with little success.

"Well, Yamanaka, please take your emotional issues with Shikamaru out of practice. You're killing him." Ino glanced at the blue-faced Shikamaru and hastily loosened her grip on his neck.

"You know, normal people usually make noise when someone is hurting them." She scolded.

"I'm not normal." Shikamaru wasn't even looking at Ino, but elsewhere.

"Of course you would take the easier way out—_you are normal_!"

"I'm not."

"You are!"

"I'm not."

"You are!" And so on…

At this point, Chouji and Asuma gave up trying to separate the bickering pair and went back to sparring. Tenten and Neji also turned back to their own sparring, but not quite at the driven pace it was before.

"Well?" Tenten prodded.

"Well what? Be specific."

"You're not Iruka-sensei, don't give me a lecture. How does putting people who argue so much make a difference in teamwork?" The Kunoichi may not have practiced in groups, but they mostly got along just fine. There were occasional catfights, but they were very rare, largely thanks to a policy enforced by the coach that too much fighting resulted in being kicked off the team.

"It does, eventually."

"Not in Ino's case, or Sakura's." Tenten jerked her head to the left, where Ino was still shrieking at Shikamaru, and to where Sakura was stalking away from Sasuke, who had an unusually exasperated look on his face.

"They are simply girls having a personality clash. That will fade in time."

"I doubt that."

"Hn."

"At least Hinata's team gets along." Tenten glanced over to Kiba, Shino, and the aforementioned girl was taking a break with Kurenai. They were the only group that hadn't once bickered throughout the whole practice. Considering that they were already close, she wasn't surprised.

"Hn."

"Why do you and Sasuke always answer like that?"

"Hn." Annoyed, Tenten re-engaged Neji in a driven spar that would (and did) make Gai proud.

* * *

Before Tenten knew it, it was the middle of October. She had been able to successfully keep her cover for six weeks, despite the complications. She was doing well in all of her classes, her stamina had improved, and not to mention, she had finally reached an understanding with Neji. They were now somewhat friends, even though they tolerated each other more than actually liking each other. 

Her friends also were progressing well. Hinata seemed to be talking to Naruto more and blushing less, though Neji was halting the progress quite a bit, much to everyone's annoyance. Sakura and Sasuke also seemed to becoming comfortable with one another, though they still clashed at times. Ino, to everyone's surprise, became good friends with Chouji. To nobody's surprise, she and Shikamaru still didn't like each other.

Despite all of the work and the disguising, Tenten made sure that she wasn't abandoning her girl friends. Whenever they could, on weekends the four girls went off to Suna, wandering around in the one area of Fire City they were most comfortable with and the one place no Konoha students would be. They even met up with Temari sometimes, who had somehow had accumulated detailed accounts of everything that happened in the last month and a half (she had joked that the school was rigged with cameras, Tenten half-believed her). Kankuro usually tagged along, and gave Tenten some useful pointers about guy relationships, helping prove her theory that guys were all probably clinically insane.

Unfortunately, Tenten forgot one tiny little thing about pretending to be a different person: to the rest of the world, she was still Tenten. Just because Toyo now existed, didn't mean that Tenten had disappeared.

* * *

One Friday afternoon, after a long, hard day at school and an equally hard practice, Tenten dragged herself through her apartment door, schoolbag over one shoulder and her mail in the opposite hand. 

Once she had showered and changed into more feminine wear, Tenten began the task of sorting her mail. While all of her bills went to the orphanage, she still got catalogues, magazines, school information and personal letters.

_What have we gotten today…junk…ShinobiNews…more junk…what's this?_ Tenten extracted a letter from the orphanage from the pile. Curiously, she slit the envelope open and unfolded the letter inside.

_Dear Tenten,_

_We hope you have not forgotten about the carnival fundraiser for the orphanage this year. It will be held earlier than usual this year, this coming Saturday to be exact, and as always, we would like for the well-placed orphans such as yourself to help us out with the carnival games. Let us know if you can do so, we need people to supervise the dart boards, the popcorn cart, and the kissing booth (we need one more girl)._

_As Always,_

_Kaede Sugimoto_

_P.S. You'll be paid. I apologize for the late notice._

Tenten read the letter a second time, and tilted back her head thoughtfully. There really was nothing wrong with helping out at the carnival—she had been doing it for the past three years after all. Mentally, she ran through her schedule—she had practically nothing to do this weekend, so taking on the dart boards wouldn't be so bad. Besides, she owed the orphanage more than a few thanks yous.

Best of all, it was always held in the Suna district. No one from Konoha would be there, so she wouldn't have to run the risk of being discovered by anyone. And she was positive the orphanage wouldn't mind if she brought along some friends along.

Making up her mind, Tenten reached over and grabbed her phone off of the coffee table.

"Hello?"

"Hey girls, want to earn some easy money?"

* * *

"Why are we here in a carnival in _Suna_ of all places?" Neji looked around his surroundings with well-concealed dislike. Everything was too bright, too cheerful, too upbeat. Neji might not have been (as Kiba called him) 'emo', but he preferred subtle and calm to loud and raucous. Lee was the only exception to this rule. 

Of course, Lee was the exception to _every_ rule.

"But Neji, my rival, don't you remember? This is a fundraiser; it's for a very good cause!" Lee was, as usual, bent on living everything to the fullest. He was all over the place with Naruto and Kiba, looking around excitedly. The rest of the Chuunin Shinobi lagged behind, all of them less than enthusiastic about being there.

"Besides, didn't our parents threaten us with bodily harm if we didn't show up?" asked Chouji. Despite having only been physically in the carnival for about five minutes, he had already amassed armfuls of sweet snacks.

"Hn. Still seems like a waste of time to me." Sasuke's hands were interlocked behind his head as he glanced around the bright stalls and games with complete disinterest. The looks on Shino's and Shikamaru's faces indicated similar opinions.

"That's 'cause none of you have any idea how to have fun!" Naruto sighed, "I wish the girls or Toyo were here. They would appreciate it."

Neji wouldn't have minded Toyo here with them either. The boy was suspicious, but he wasn't prone to the bouts of emotion that plagued Lee, and he usually understood what he was talking about. As he scanned the grounds, a habit well refined over the years, he spotted three very familiar figures. His cousin and her entourage. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, so Neji wasn't about to spoil their good time by calling attention to them.

"HINATA-CHANNNN! SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto's quick eyes had locked on the girls and he made a beeline for them, almost pouncing on Hinata, had not Ino gotten in front of the girl and nearly slapped his face off. He howled with pain and stumbled backwards, a red handprint decorating his cheek. Sakura clapped in approval, while Hinata looked alarmed and rushed over to tend to him.

"Woah! Nice aim, Ino!" Kiba came up to her and clapped her on the back, not even flinching when she 'playfully' punched his shoulder. "What are you all dressed up for?" While Hinata and Sakura were wearing reasonably casual clothes, Ino was wearing clothes more appropriate for a date than for a day having fun.

"I'm going to be working at the kissing booth. Come and see me." She grinned and addressed the whole group of boys, blatantly ignoring how all of them exchanged wary glances.

"What are all of you doing here anyway?" Neji asked Hinata, "You said nothing about coming here today.

"I-I didn't think you would be interested." Explained Hinata softly, slightly uncomfortable with Naruto's proximity to her right side, "Besides, Tenten invited us."

"Tenten?"

"A friend of ours; she's still going to Suna." Explained Ino.

"Ah. Have fun." Neji made to leave, but was held back by Ino and Lee. "What?" he snapped irritably.

"Neji, you need your own blossom!" Everyone listening almost fell over anime-style. The only exceptions were Sakura and Sasuke, who were too into their own conversation to notice.

"_What?_" Neji wondered if he had heard correctly.

"You want to set Neji up with Tenten?" Ino shook her head as though to clear it. "Where did that come from?"

"From what you told me of this Tenten at school, she is strong. Neji likes strong girls." Said Lee, shrugging. The others in the group received this information with great amusement.

"Hyuuga has a type? " Kiba mock gasped, "And all this time I thought you were asexual. Though you seem to have been talking to Toyo an awful lot late—"

Neji hit him before the statement could go any further. The rest of the group, stifling a laugh, helped the hapless Inuzuka back on his feet. They proceeded to follow Ino and Hinata, with no knowledge as to where they were going.

Without realizing it, they had left Sakura and Sasuke behind them. Together. _Alone_.

* * *

It was only when Lee tried to talk to his beloved Sakura that the group realized they had left the two behind. Lee (naturally) wanted to go back and retrieve them. But Ino and Naruto, uncanny glints in their eyes, suggested that they leave them be, in case something 'happened'. 

As they walked through the carnival grounds, their group began to dwindle in number, Ino running off when she realized that her shift was about to start, while Chouji found a new food he wanted to try and dragged Shikamaru off to get some. Then Naruto dragged Hinata off to a ramen stand, Kiba and Shino at their heels. Neji had wanted very badly to follow, but Lee insisted that Neji at least see Tenten before heading off to stalk and possibly maim Naruto.

"There she is!" Lee pointed indiscreetly at the girl in charge of the dart contest. She had her hair done up in two buns, wearing a long sleeved red shirt and black jeans, and was twirling a kunai on one finger. Her facial expression and body told Neji she was clearly bored. But what really struck Neji was how similar she looked to Toyo. They were almost twins, though the girl's face looked softer than Toyo's. Was she a relative?

With Lee watching from behind the popcorn booth and nothing better to do, he walked over to where the dart boards were. The girl's (Tenten, he reminded himself) eyes snapped up to him and she did a double take.

"What?" he snapped, not in an especially cordial mood.

"Nothing, just not everyday you see a Hyuuga." She said, a little quickly. The second he heard her voice, Neji recognized it as that of the girl who had been so rude as to disturb his meditation then _hang up on him_ exactly eight weeks, three days, and eight hours ago.

Not that he was holding a grudge or anything.

"Hn."

"Well, do you want to try out the dart boards?" the hand that was twirling the kunai stopped, and with a flick of the wrist sent it flying at the target behind her. It hit the center with a dull thud and remained there, quivering.

"Not particularly."

"Then leave. You're probably scaring the kids away, and they're my main customers."

"Hn."

"What does that mean?" Unlike Toyo, however, this girl seemed to have much more emotion and a smarter mouth.

"Do you know a Katana Toyo?" he asked, ignoring her question. Frankly, it was just a habit he picked up; he had no idea what 'hn' meant. Tenten started slightly, staring at him.

"Yeah, he's my cousin." She sounded a little wary, "What of it."

"Hn." He wasn't entirely sure he believed that, but considering how nearly all Hyuugas looked very alike, he let it slide. "How did you do that?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Do what?" she blinked in confusion.

"The kunai." He gestured behind her.

"Oh?" Tenten shrugged, "I've been training since I was really young. It's easy once you get used to it."

"_Get used to it._" Neji repeated, smirking slightly, "To what, hitting the target center every time?"

"You bet." She grinned impishly at him, "I have a one hundred percent accuracy rate."

"Care to prove that theory?" Neji had to see this; even he didn't have one hundred percent accuracy. He only had a ninety eight percent accuracy rate, and there was no way this smart-mouthed girl was better than him.

"Certainly. Do you have a hundred kunai?" Her eyebrows lifted in an almost mocking expression.

"No. But you do." He pointed at the bag behind her, recognizing it as a weapons' cache. Tenten followed his gaze and winced as she turned back to face his smug expression.

"But they'll get dirty," she protested.

"Then you'll just have to clean them. Besides, weapons are not for display, they are toys meant for death."

"I know, I know. You don't have to be so Confucian about it," she grumbled. She dragged her weapons' cache out to the marked line about twenty feet away from the target.

_Confucian?_ For possibly the third time in two minutes, Neji was confused. This girl was _weird_. But she also was reasonably easy to talk to, not to mention somewhat _interesting_.

"Well?" she prodded, startling him out of his thoughts. "Are you going to see if I'll actually do this right or not?"

"Hn."

"Stop that." Without even looking at the target, she began to throw her kunai.

Within a matter of minutes, the barrage of kunai against the target had ceased, and Neji had walked over to inspect the target. Sure enough, each one was within the center mark. Not only that, but when he pulled on them, they didn't budge.

"It looks like you weren't lying, considering that you weren't even looking when you threw half of these." Neji remarked, _slightly_ impressed.

"Yeah, it would have been better if I had practiced." Tenten remarked, rubbing her shoulder, "There was a time when I could have thrown anything sharp and have it land dead center." She sighed, "But there is so little appreciation for different knives, designs of kunai, everything, I haven't been able to practice. People forget that Shinobi did use weapons, sometimes more than their fists."

"True, but few people are as comfortable with sharp objects as you seem to be. Are you good with a katana?"

"You have no idea; I'm a mistress of weapons of all kinds." She grinned at him.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Sure. When I was six, I would toss dulled butter knives around, despite the orphanage people telling me not to—"

"No, I mean," Neji couldn't really understand what he was about to do, but pushed on anyways, "after your shift here is done. Do you want to…walk around?"

The girl stared at him, mouth slightly agape.

"Well?" he asked, slightly irritated.

"Um, sure. My shift ends in an hour."

"Hn. I'll wait." He was slightly a taken back by her sudden grin.

"In that case, be useful! Come on, we can talk while we wait, and I can get someone to help me when the sugar high brats come around."

"What sugar high brats?"

"The ones coming right now." Tenten pointed to somewhere behind Neji. When he turned around, sure enough, he could see a group of kids heading towards them, all sorts of candy and cheap prizes crammed in their arms. All of them were yelling, jumping, and giggling.

_Oh, crap…

* * *

_

Tenten could not remember feeling more relaxed, despite the fact that she was in the company of the one person who, ironically, made her the most uncomfortable at school. But then again, watching the Hyuuga prodigy try to actually help kids…was very humanizing and satisfying. Even more satisfying was the number of times he had to do so. For some reason, despite the fact that business had been dreadfully slow before Neji came, they soon had their hands full, showing the kids how to throw so that they might win a prize.

She blamed his hair for the sudden popularity of the games; it drew the little girls like flies to honey.

But true to her word, once the hour had been up, she had kept her promise and handed over her shift to the next post-orphan who had volunteered. She had been somewhat confused and questioning her sanity in accepting his offer of what sounded suspiciously like a date.

But to her surprise (and pleasure), Neji was extremely knowledgeable about weapons of all kinds, even though it was more limited than hers. They were able to spend the better part of two hours wandering around the carnival grounds, just talking comfortably with one another. It was only when they had begun a debate about shruiken designs that she remembered something important.

"Hey Neji," she asked suddenly.

"What?"

"I know you know Hinata, obviously, but do you know Ino and Sakura?"

"Unfortunately."

"Did you see them on your way in here? They were supposed to visit me."

"Yes, I did, and I wouldn't worry about that if I was you. The blonde went off for her job, Sakura is somewhere with the Uchiha, and an idiot kidnapped Hinata and is probably force-feeding her ramen as we speak."

Tenten chuckled, "Aw, Naruto-kun's mate-feeding her, that's kinda cute!" Upon seeing Neji's deathly glower hastily rectified, "Well, not literally mate-feeding her, 'cause that would mean he was throwing up in her mouth and no matter how much she likes him, that's just nasty—"

"How do you know Naruto?" interrupted Neji, eyeing Tenten a little suspiciously.

_Oops. Think of something! Fast! _

"It's Hinata-chan, how do you think I know about him?" Tenten mentally cheered, _Good excuse, thank goodness for Hinata's blatant crushing! _

"Hn." Neji seemed to accept that answer, and they returned to their weaponry discussion.

But even the most enthused experts eventually grow weary of their topics, and soon Tenten was barely listening to Neji, just wandering around the carnival and nodding her head in the appropriate places. But once she spotted a few games she wanted to try, she regained interest and dragged Neji forcibly to them, taking great amusement in not only playing the games, but forcing Neji to play them as well. What was even more amusing was seeing him actually _enjoy_ playing those games.

Of course, Neji being Neji, he was very good at these games, and had soon amassed several prizes, which he gave to Tenten, telling her gruffly that he had no use for stuffed animals and that she better not take it the wrong way. Tenten accepted them, and wondered why his face wasn't as pale as usual when she thanked him.

After a couple of hours passed in that way, Tenten looked at her watch and realized that she needed to get back if she wanted to be on time for her shift.

"Hey Neji, I should be getting back to my job." Though Tenten wouldn't admit it, she was sorry to have to leave. She had actually been enjoying her time with Neji and wanted to talk to him a little more as a girl, not just as a 'friend'.

"Hn." Neji looked slightly disgruntled, but quickly returned to acting apathetic. Tenten laughed, and on impulse got up on her toes and pecked him on the cheek before running off, still laughing, towards the dart board booth.

She would probably regret that implusive action later, but for now, she couldn't be bothered to have any regrets.

* * *

Neji stood stock still, as though he could not move his feet from the spot where Tenten had kissed him. That she had done so was a surprise, that he hadn't minded it was a shock. 

He would have to ask Toyo about her, and maybe ask Hinata too. Tenten was tough and interesting, which were nice traits to find in anyone, and Neji thought that he wouldn't mind seeing her again. In fact, he might even look forward to it.

Out of nowhere, Lee appeared, his grin three times wider than usual and a whole lot shinier.

"NEJI, MY RIVAL! YOU HAVE FINALLY FOUND THE GIRL OF YOUR DREAMS! FOR I WAS WATCHING AND COULD CLEARLY SEE THAT—"

Neji had to put his curiosity about Tenten on hold while he beat poor Lee to a pulp.

* * *

A/N: Well, I'm dissatisfied. I wanted to write some believable fluff, but Neji was being difficult. Did I make him too OOC? I'm really sorry about this chapter. Next one is the other couples, and I'm a little worried. 

Review please! I have a feeling I'm going to need some constructive criticism.


	9. Fun at the Carnival pt 2

**A/N**: I owe all my readers an apology for the late update. But when real life comes calling, fan fiction suffers, and I had dance performances all weekend.

As usual, I hope none of the characters come off as too OOC. I'm worried about the guys (especially Itachi) so let me know if they seem OOC to you and _**how**_ they are OOC.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto

* * *

"They left us!" 

Sakura was, understandably enough, furious.

"Hn."

Sasuke, as usual, appeared to be completely apathetic about the situation.

"I don't believe this; they left us, abandoned us! Ugh!" Sakura huffed angrily and crossed her arms, completely annoyed with the new turn of events.

**Hey, it's not like you're in the middle of no where. It could be worse.**

_Maybe, but they abandoned me with Sasuke-kun!_

_'_**Sasuke-kun'?**

_This is my own head, I can call him whatever I want._

"Well, what should we do now?" she asked, once she finally ran out of steam.

"I don't know," Said Sasuke, shrugging, "We can hurt the others later, but first we should figure out what we want to do right now."

"Well, you could start by enjoying this amusing place." Remarked a deep voice from behind them. Sakura and Sasuke turned around to find Itachi and Hana, arms linked, the former looking unusually benign (in Sakura's view) and the latter smiling and cuddling a stuffed puppy in her arms.

"Itachi." Sasuke greeted the older Uchiha (Sakura noted the complete lack of hostility in Sasuke's tone), "What are you doing here?"

"I dragged him here," explained Hana before Itachi could even open his mouth, "Technically; we should to be heading to Oto right now."

Sasuke and Sakura both grimaced at the despised name. Oto Academy was a direct rival of Konoha Academy, with the roughest and most dangerous students. Not to mention it was under Orochimaru, who was possibly the most unpopular person in the Konoha District, for good reason.

"What for?" asked Sakura.

"Something dull and unimportant." Hana shrugged, "So boring and official, even the golden boy over here—" she elbowed Itachi, "—didn't want to go." Sakura giggled, amused at the expression on Itachi's face.

"It isn't that it's _boring_, Hana," began Itachi, a vein throbbing on his head, "But the lecture is simply _unnecessary_."

"You just don't want to babysit Tobi again. Admit it."

"I do not _babysit_ him; I simply ensure that he doesn't taint the Uchiha name with his ridiculous antics."

"Alright, then. Tobi-sitting. But whatever." Hana rolled her eyes, but suddenly froze, staring at something off in the distance.

"Itachi?" she tugged on his arm.

"What?"

"We gotta go." Itachi eyed her suspiciously.

"Why?"

"ITACHI-KUN!!!!!!"

The sound of their voices and of wild stampeding preceded the fan girls, as well as the strong, sickly scent of perfume.

Both Uchiha brothers jumped a good three feet into the air. No matter that it was Itachi's name being screamed; Sasuke had as much reason to be afraid as his brother. Hana and Sakura grimaced, their encounters with fan girls were never exactly _fun_.

"For once, I agree entirely, Hana. Good day, foolish younger brother." With that, both Itachi and Hana made their speedy getaway.

"We should probably hide too." Remarked Sakura off-handedly, watching the horde come dangerously closer. Since they had lost Itachi, they had now turned their sights on Sasuke.

"SASUKE-KUNN!"

Sasuke didn't say a word, but grabbed her elbow (which she swore was going to twist the wrong way one of those days) and they ran as far as they could in the opposite direction. They didn't stop until Sakura's foot caught on a tree root and she fell, bringing Sasuke down with her.

"Oww…." Sakura managed to sit back up, rubbing her now-bruised forehead. Thankfully, they had lost the fan girls in the carnival quickly. Looking around, Sakura realized that they probably weren't even in the carnival anymore. Instead, it appeared that she and Sasuke had reached the grounds outside of the carnival, next to a lovely garden on the banks of the Hokage River.

"Peace Gardens." Sasuke's voice came from somewhere above her.

Sakura twisted around and had to tilt her head upwards to see Sasuke's face. He in turn wasn't looking at her, but at some sign pinned onto the tree (whose offending roots Sakura had tripped over). "Apparently, it's some sort of recreational place. Probably for people with too much money and time on their hands." He scowled a little, emphasizing his distain.

"What's wrong with people having a lot of money? Your family is wealthy." Sakura pointed out, getting back onto her feet, once she was sure nothing was injured.

"People who have too much act ridiculous with their money and their lives. And my family may be well off, but not excessively, nor do they have such ridiculous attitudes."

"I wasn't implying that they did, Sasuke."

For nearly a minute there was silence.

"Why are you calling me Sasuke, now?" asked Sasuke, without really looking at her. Sakura blinked, confused.

"Well, Sasuke is your name. What else should I call you? Sasu-chan?"

"That's not what I mean and you know it." He responded coolly, one eyebrow twitching. Sakura took the miniscule sign of his annoyance with relish.

"Then what do you mean? I mean, really?" They had begun to wander on the path besides the gardens. It was really a very pretty place, with flowers of all kinds, ranging from cherry blossoms to hibiscus.

"What happened to the 'kun'?"

"Oh, that. Nothing happened to it; I just thought, you know, that it would be weird to call you that, now that we're older." Sakura fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Really?" Sasuke sounded skeptical.

"Really," replied Sakura easily, crossing her fingers behind her back. If she told him that she had to consciously remind herself to not call him 'Sasuke-kun', she would never hear the end of it.

"Hn." They walked in silence, Sasuke looking straight ahead, while Sakura admired the variety of flowers they passed. Once the silence had ceased to be awkward, she asked the main question that had been plaguing her mind for some time.

"Sasuke?"

"What?"

"What has been going on with you and Itachi?"

"…?"

"I mean, you two are actually getting along now." She clarified, "What happened?"

"We got older."

"That's my answer, you can't use it!"

"Yes I can." Sasuke smirked, obviously amused at the exasperation now painted on Sakura's face.

"No you can't. Now tell me."

"No."

"Come on."

"No."

"Come on, please?" She was beginning to plead, for Kami's sake!

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

"To put it bluntly: a lot of your bad attitude came from your ridiculous hatred."

Rather than getting defensive, as Sakura thought he would, Sasuke gave her a long, thoughtful look.

"You really want to know that badly?" At Sakura's frenzied nod he continued, "Then you'll have to tell me why you've been acting so funny, as an exchange."

"Fine." She agreed impatiently, curiosity overriding hesitation, "What did you and Itachi have to do?"

"Well, we had to live apart from each other for a couple of years, go to psychologists—"Sakura couldn't help but giggle, but shut up when he glared at her. "—alone and together. But mostly just…talk."

"About what?" Sakura couldn't imagine Sasuke doing the sort of talking that she was thinking of, especially since it was near impossible half the time to actually get him to speak a word.

"I don't remember, it was rather traumatic." He paused for a moment, before adding grudgingly, "But it did help, in the end, oddly enough."

"Really?"

"Yes. Now why have you been acting so different?"

"That wasn't explaining!"

"You didn't tell me to be especially specific. Now hold up your end of the bargain."

"I feel cheated." She grumbled, crossing her arms and pouting childishly.

"Hn. Too bad. Tell me."

"I already told you, we're older now. Things changed."

"Like?" he prompted.

"Well, personalities, interests, people…" she trailed off, but Sasuke caught the unsaid: _and feelings, too_.

"Ah." He was silent.

They continued to walk in silence, Sakura kept her eyes to the ground while Sasuke stared blankly ahead.

"I do have one more question," he spoke up. Seeing her wary expression through her hair, he added, "Nothing too personal or anything like that, just something that's been nagging me for awhile."

"Oh? Ask away, then."

"When did you get so smart?" Sakura visibly relaxed at the mundane question.

"Same way you did." She responded, "A lot of natural intelligence and more focus on studying."

"Aa. Another question, since when are you so short?" For emphasis, Sasuke patted the top of her head, which only came up to his chest. Sakura glowered at him, vexed.

"You're going into dangerous territory, mister. I could cause you a lot of pain."

"Hn." Sasuke smirked, but backed off. Pleased that he seemed to be taking her threat seriously, Sakura began humming some wordless tune, a habit she picked up when she was comfortable with her surroundings. And for the first time in a very long while, she was comfortable around Sasuke.

At least until as a joke, she had shoved him, and he pushed her in the river as revenge.

(Sakura wondered if he had some psychological _need_ to avenge himself on everyone he thought wronged him)

Naturally, that meant war.

* * *

Ino had no idea that working at a kissing booth could be so _boring_. 

Boring. Not an adjective one would normally consider corresponding with a kissing booth job. It certainly wasn't like she had any lag in customers; nor that her customers were all the same (though she really wished the old man-chewing-gum-that-wasn't-really-gum wouldn't keep getting back in line), but it wasn't interesting. At all. Either they had no idea how to kiss, or were idiots who wasted her time trying to chat her up.

Fixing the perky smile back on her face, she looked up into the face of her next customer…only to have it immediately slip off her face.

"Shika-kun?!" Ino stared at the sulky boy in complete bafflement.

"Before you ask, I lost a bet, and it was either this, or pay for all of Chouji's snacks for the rest of the year, no matter the quantity." He explained, unusually snappish.

Ino didn't know whether to be flattered or insulted that Shikamaru preferred her over his wallet, but didn't push the matter. Already she could tell that it was going to be a very awkward kiss.

Silence.

"Well, might as well get it over with, so come on, lean forward." Ino gestured at Shikamaru uncomfortably to come closer to her.

He obliged. In an I-really-don't-want-to-do-this fashion.

"This is much too troublesome," he grumbled.

"I concur. But you could just pretend to kiss me and run away, that would make things easier." _You're the genius, if you don't want to kiss me, make it so that you don't have to!!_

"Too lazy, and Chouji's watching anyway." Startled, Ino looked around, trying to spot the devious gambling, person. Sure enough, he was only a few feet away from the platform, waving benignly and munching on popcorn.

"Well, it could be worse." She joked, trying to lighten the grim expression on Shikamaru's face. "You could have had to kiss Temari. She's the dangerous one."

"…" Shikamaru still had a look of utmost doom on his face, ignoring Ino's growing impatience.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" She demanded.

"A miracle."

"Ha ha, very funny. Now come on, the geeks are getting impatient." Indeed, some of the boys in line for the kissing booth were giving very dirty looks at Shikamaru. Catching them, Shikamaru nodded and groaned, a woebegone expression on his face.

Ino and Shikamaru leaned towards one another, clumsily trying to align themselves for the kiss. They were both so flustered that Ino secretly decided; as she pressed her mouth to Shikamaru's, that Chouji would a very slow, painful death.

But to her (complete, mind-numbing) shock, Ino actually found herself actually enjoying the kiss. Shikamaru wasn't inexperienced, from what she could tell, or had bits of food inside his mouth (that was a big relief). And he wasn't trying to imitate a plunger, which was even better. Best of all, it wasn't nearly as discomfiting as she had thought it would be. In fact, she was actually enjoying herself. Judging from Shikamaru's hand pressing at the back of her head so that he could deepen the kiss, he was enjoying himself as well.

So naturally, when they were jerked apart, Ino was rather annoyed. The annoyance quickly changed to agitation when she saw exactly who had separated Shikamaru and herself.

"You're making out with my girlfriend, punk." A boy with black hair sticking up glowered at Shikamaru, who looked utterly bemused by this new turn in events.

"Ex-girlfriend." Ino corrected, glaring at the intruder, "And what are you doing here, Zaku? This isn't your district." What had possessed her to go out with someone from Oto, she had no idea. But after she had dumped Zaku for his attitude, he had taken to messing with her personal life whenever he saw her. But he had seemed to have disappeared in the past six months, and Ino had thought that he had finally given up on her.

Apparently, this was not the case.

"Just was happening by. And I'm not here by choice, Kin dragged me here."

"Kin? Your new girlfriend, Kin?" _She's here?! Oh bother._

Kin was loud, rude, and had bullied Sakura the few times they had met up. Pretty enough, with black eyes and ludicrously long black hair; she had always liked Zaku and thus, hated Ino. When Ino had learned (from very reliable gossip sources) that the two were dating, she stopped going anywhere that was known to have Otos hanging about. Catfights, no matter how cool they sounded or how much guys liked them, _hurt_. Badly.

"So let me get something straight," interjected Shikamaru, now putting on his 'thinking' face (which looked ridiculous given the situation), "This Oto shinobi over here," he poked Zaku for emphasis, "Is your ex boyfriend who has a girlfriend yet is claiming that you are also his girlfriend?" When Ino nodded he turned to Zaku and asked, "Do you want to die, or do you really want to be a polygamist?"

Zaku let out a derisive snort, "Neither, dumbass, just making sure you keep your boundaries." He cracked his knuckles threateningly.

"And what if I don't 'keep my boundaries'? What happens then?" Shikamaru raised his eyebrows, and Ino marveled at how he was able to sound condescending while still looking like he didn't care. She also marveled at the fact that of all the fantasies she'd had about getting a boyfriend who would teach Zaku a lesson, she never expected the boy to not only not be her boyfriend, but to also be a lazy slacker.

"Then you die." Zaku got right up in Shikamaru's face. The latter looked calm on the outside, but Ino saw him ready his stance and take his fisted hands out of his pockets.

"Hey guys," she interrupted, getting between them, "Could just dial it down, a little? And just step away, alright?" Ino pushed both boys lightly on their chests, forcing them to take a step away from one another. She may have loved a good fight over the girl, but just in novels, not in real life.

"She's right," said Shikamaru, putting his hands back into his pockets, "We'll settle this when we fight you in the trials."

"Fine. We can settle it then." Zaku nodded curtly, and turned to leave. Ino breathed a sigh of relief.

"Of course, we could just settle it right here!" Zaku whirled around and threw a punch at Shikamaru, only scraping his jaw as the boy quickly dodged. They lunged at one another and grappled, throwing punches at every opening. A particularly strong punch on Shikamaru's side forced Zaku off the platform, though he was able to grab Shikamaru's arm and drag him down with him.

They continued to fight while rolling in the grass, each boy trying to get up while at the same time pulling the other down. When Zaku and Shikamaru managed to get back onto their feet, the fight became another shoving, grappling contest.

Once she had recovered from her shock, Ino immediately jumped off the platform and ran to the boys, trying to push them off each other.

"Zaku!" she shouted, trying to haul him away from Shikamaru, "Zaku! Stop being an idiot and let go!" The Oto teen shoved her out of the way, ignoring her words.

Frustrated and ticked off, Ino ignored the logical part of her mind and jumped onto Zaku's back, trying now to jerk him off of Shikamaru.

Unfortunately, the new weight threw off Zaku's balance, and he, Shikamaru, and Ino all crashed into a popcorn cart. The cart fell over and smashed to pieces, while the teens toppled over the wreckage and into the popcorn.

"WHAT IS GOING ON OVER HERE!!?" Ino stood up only to see one of the women who ran the carnival fighting her way through the crowd that had somehow accumulated, with murder in her eyes.

"THIS IS A CHILDREN'S CARNIVAL, NOT SOME WRESTLING ARENA! OUT!" she looked over to Ino and added in a calmer voice, "Ino, your shift is over for now. Please leave."

The polite dismissal was far more intimidating than her shrieking outrage.

"Yes ma'am," Ino answered meekly (or as meekly as Ino could go). Grabbing Shikamaru none too gently by the collar, she pushed her way through the crowd, to where Chouji was waiting on the crowd edge. From what Ino could judge from his rather surprised face, he had been worried about Shikamaru, but had the sense not to fight his way through the crowd.

"Why was Shikamaru fighting?" Chouji asked, staring down at his bruised and slightly bloodied friend in complete disbelief.

"Don't ask, just help me get him away from the crowd." Grunted Ino. _He's heavy for being so scrawny!_

Chouji just nodded and became Shikamaru's second crutch, as the trio began heading in the direction of the local restrooms.

There Ino dragged Shikamaru into the women's room (ignoring Chouji's protests) and began the clean-up process. By the time Shikamaru managed to break away and stomp out of the restroom, bright pink, she had counted a black eye, bloody nose, a sprained wrist, and assorted bruises. A nasty beating, at least for outside of the Shinobi games.

She stayed in the bathroom for a few minutes, reapplying smudged make-up and pondering Shikamaru's unusual reaction when Zaku baited him. Somehow, she doubted that she would get a satisfying explanation out of him, no matter how many threats she administered.

Expecting to find that Shikamaru and Chouji had made a getaway, Ino was more than surprised to walk out only to find the boys waiting for her.

"What are you two doing here?" she asked, blinking.

"Waiting for you, obviously." Shikamaru rolled his eyes, though the gesture was hidden by the angle of his head and the handkerchief he was holding up to his nose to stop the bleeding.

"Why?"

"I owe you and Shikamaru." Said Chouji simply, rubbing his head sheepishly, "Considering it's my fault he got hurt and you had to kiss him. That must have been horrible."

"Hn." Ino chose not to contradict nor agree with the statement. "So what do you owe me?"

"Do you like barbeque?"

"A little."

"Good, there's a good place in Konoha where we can go and eat. I'll drive you home later if you want." Ino smiled and nodded.

"That sounds nice, Chouji, thank you." She allowed Chouji to lead the way to his car, she walked behind him with Shikamaru.

"Shika-kun?" The boy jumped slightly at the sound of his name.

"What?" he asked warily.

"About the kiss…"

"Yeah?" Ino could see beads of sweat forming on his forehead, and fought back a giggle.

"…We must never mention it in front of my father." Shikamaru's shoulders sagged in relief.

"No problem."

"Good, 'cause Daddy would probably skin you alive if he found out, then castrate you." seeing Shikamaru's panicked expression she added, "Though I'd never let that happen. I like you the way you are."

The dark red blush on Shikamaru's face made Ino glow with delight.

* * *

Hinata was in an unusually good mood. 

Naruto was sitting next to her, actually _talking_ with her, she hadn't fainted once, Kiba and Shino and Akamaru were all there, and they were eating ramen. Best of all, she didn't have a chaperone that would make her boys nervous.

Today was a good day.

"Aiee. I love ramen." Remarked Naruto (predictably) after his fifth bowl, "It always tastes so good! I'm glad that Ichiraku's has a stall here, 'cause theirs is the best."

"Of course, Naruto-kun." Hinata knew better than to respond with anything more or less than the simple agreement. Any more, and Naruto would launch into a detailed description of why that ramen was so wonderful. Any less, he would take offense and threaten the 'traitor', or something similar.

"Glad someone agrees with me, at least." The blonde shot a glare over to Kiba and Shino, who on the surface appeared to be blatantly ignoring him. But as a resigned Hinata knew, if Naruto even tried to touch her hand, her boys would be tearing him to shreds.

"Anyway, I'm bored." Naruto announced, throwing his arm in an overly dramatic gesture. Unfortunately, he knocked over a bowl still half full of hot broth—right onto Akamaru.

The little dog let out a surprised bark and immediately began to run around trying to get the bowl off of its head. But because he couldn't see, Akamaru didn't know he was running in the opposite direction of the ramen booth, away from Kiba.

"Akamaru!" howled Kiba, jumping off of his stool and running after Akamaru, dragging Shino by his oversized collar. The moment they were gone, Naruto grabbed Hinata by the hand and immediately began sprinting in the opposite direction of Kiba and Shino, Hinata dragging behind him.

"Eep! Naruto-kun! What are you doing?!" Hinata was so surprised that her normal stammer was absent.

"I told you, I'm bored!" he grinned at her impishly, "So I thought we should go play some games!"

"W-what about Kiba-kun and Shino-kun?"

"They were dampening the mood. Don't worry, dog boy and bug boy can take care of themselves."

"O-oh?"

"Yeah, they totally crashed our party!"

"What?"

"Er, that's an expression."

"Well, c-can we a-at least slow d-down?"

"Oh! Sure, Sorry." Immediately Naruto skid to a stop right in front of a bottle stand. "Want to play?"

"S-sure. I'm not very good though." She said shyly.

"Don't worry about it. Just take the ball and toss it, like so…" Naruto handed the stand owner some money and picked up a ball, aimed it at the stacked up bottles, and threw it, managing to knock over the whole structure.

"Oh yeah!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air. Hinata smiled at him

"Good job, N-Naruto-kun."

"Yeah, good job," said the stand owner, smiling, "Which prize would you like?"

"I don't know. What do you want, Hinata-chan?"

"I really couldn't…"

"Ne, please, Hinata-chan? Think of it as a very early birthday present." He gestured at the row of stuffed animals. "Which one do you want?" Hinata scanned them, not stopping until a plush orange fox caught her eye.

"That one, please." she pointed it out to the stand owner, who plucked it down and gave it to her with a smile.

"You like foxes?" Naruto sounded slightly puzzled. Hinata nodded, cuddling the toy in her arms. "Huh, didn't expect that. You wanna try?"

"O-of course" Hinata took out some of her own money and handed it to the stand owner before Naruto could. Picking up the ball offered to her, she aimed and threw as hard as she could at the bottles.

She not only knocked all of the bottles over, but she even managed to shatter one.

"Wow, Hinata-chan! Good arm!"

"T-thanks." Hinata blushed, and then asked boldly, "Which prize do you want?"

"Eh?"

"You let me pick one out. It's your turn. Pick out an animal you like."

"Okay, let's see…" Naruto studied the row of prizes meticulously, eying each prize with a critical eye. Hinata watched as his blue eyes brightened when they landed on the one he wanted.

"I choose _that_ one!" With a dramatic flourish, Naruto pointed at…

…a little white rabbit, holding a carrot, with lavender eyes.

Hinata was very, very surprised.

"Naruto-kun, you like rabbits?"

"Not rabbits," insisted Naruto, "I like _bunnies_."

That sentence, coming from Naruto, sounded so ridiculous that Hinata burst into giggles, and was unable to stop for a good five minutes.

"C'mon, you gotta admit it's cute!" Naruto wiggled the bunny right in front of Hinata's face, causing her to giggle even more.

"T-true, N-Naruto-kun!" she managed to choke out, "But why rabbits?"

"It's a bunny, not a rabbit. And I like them…" he looked thoughtful for a moment, "Well, I guess I like them pretty much for the same reasons I like you."

"E-eh?"

"Well, they're cute, quiet, friendly, sweet, and have more family than they know what to do with--" Hinata couldn't help but laugh—not giggle—at that last statement. "And because they are so soft and cuddly!"

"And how would you know that, Naruto?" Hinata let out a squeak of surprise at the presence of her cousin behind Naruto. Behind Neji were Kiba and Shino, both of whom looked unusually ticked off. Akamaru, still stained with broth, growled at Naruto.

"Heh, hey guys!" Naruto grinned sheepishly at them, "What's going on—"

"How dare you take advantage of Hinata-sama!"

"Neji, calm down. It was the bunny—I WAS TALKING ABOUT THE RABBIT!!!" Naruto screamed as he sprinted away from the three boys and one dog, who were hot on his heels, accidently dropping the stuffed bunny.

Hinata picked up the toy and held it to her chest, right next to her own stuffed fox. Smiling slightly, she began walking after her boys, following Naruto's screams, Shino and Neji's silent threats, Kiba's loud ones, and Akamaru's barking.

Despite the little setback, it was still a good day.

* * *

A/N: The bunny and fox joke came from a really cute NaruHina fanart on DeviantArt, called Pounce. Look it up!

Sorry about the late update, but wouldn't let me upload last night. Also, I might be gone awhilke because finals and other stuff are coming up. But I aim to have updated by early January.

Review!!


	10. First Game

A/N: …I'm probably dead right now, but I owe anyone who follows this fic an apology.

Christmas, finals, and writer's block combined to produce something unpleasant. Hopefully this chapter makes up for part of it. If not, I'm sorry.

* * *

Tenten decided that giving Neji that kiss had been a very bad, very _stupid_ idea.

(Even if it had been a spur of the moment thing and just on the cheek.)

Not only were things a bit more awkward between them, but Tenten was reverting to feminine behavior, much to her horror. For example, when she bumped into Neji by accident, instead of mumbling a typical "excuse me", she would blush.

_Blush! _

A very not-good thing when one was supposed to be a guy who didn't blush at contact with other guys!

To make things even worse, Neji was asking her about herself!

(Well, technically, he was asking 'Toyo' about his 'cousin', but whatever.)

It wasn't like he was _obsessing_ or anything, but the idea that Neji was curious about a girl was disturbing.

Luckily, he only asked her a few basic questions about 'Tenten', and seemed satisfied enough to leave her alone after that. But it was more likely that he was too busy planning the approaching match against Oto Academy.

Either way, Tenten was grateful. She needed to keep her mind on her training, not on worrying what she should say or not say. The upcoming match also kept others from asking her what Neji what asking her about.

Everyone on the team had stopped goofing off so much during training and had begun to actually form strategies and cooperating with their groups. Hinata, Shino, and Kiba's practice became more focused and less relaxed, while Ino and Shikamaru had reached some sort of truce. Even Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had cut down their dysfunctionality, to a certain extent, and proved to work remarkably well as a unit.

Team Gai (as the group of Neji, herself, and Lee were called) was proceeding as normal. Other than Neji and Tenten's occasional PMS mood swings, their training was rarely hindered.

So on one particular day, where Neji had delayed Team Gai's practice in order to reprimand Shikamaru, was unusual. Tenten and Lee both fidgeted as they waited for the third member of their group to stop lecturing their fellow teammate.

"Shikamaru, you are an idiot."

"My IQ levels beg to differ." Stated Shikamaru calmly, showing no nervousness at the glowers Neji and Sasuke were directing towards him.

"Your IQ levels aren't what punch the other guy out of the running." Pointed out Neji harshly, "I don't care how your brain formulates those punches, but it won't help if you can't actually punch."

"Tsunade says I'll heal by the match comes around, don't worry." Shikamaru waved his (not hurt) hand as though to say _you are being troublesome. _Tenten caught Ino and Chouji rolling their eyes, annoyed at how their teammate could be so lazy that he would resort to body language to communicate. Nevertheless, Ino came to his defense.

"Yeah, Neji. Don't be so hard on him. He injured Zaku more than Zaku injured him." Added Ino, putting a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder protectively. Tenten had to fight hard not to roll her eyes. Even after hearing about the events at the carnival, she still found the complete one-eighty Ino's personality had turned when it came to Shikamaru silly.

"Maybe, but you need to train, which is something you can't do with a sprained arm!" Neji was beginning to get pissed off, judging by the throbbing vein in his temple.

"Wrist." Corrected Shikamaru, ever a stickler for accuracy.

"Shut up."

"Yes, Captain." Agreed Shikamaru, slightly mockingly. Neji glared at the boy before stalking off, dragging Tenten by the collar to train a good ways away.

"So how does the Oto team look this year?" she asked conversationally, to ease Neji out of his bad mood. If he remained this way, Lee would try to cheer him up. Which would undoubtedly lead to an even surlier Neji, a bruised Lee, and less training completed.

"Pretty good, for once." Neji replied, moving to hit Tenten in the stomach, "They only have a few kunoichi, some of the idiots this year actually know how to use tactics, none of them as brilliant as Shikamaru, myself, or the Uchiha—" Tenten blocked the blow and jabbed him quickly in the arm, "—but not as mediocre as a couple years ago. They have new members to add to their forces, and supposedly, their abilities are rather impressive."

"Know any names?" inquired Tenten

"You'll have to ask Uchiha about that. He knows the new members from his days at Oto." Tenten was so shocked that Neji was able to hook his foot around her ankle and take it out from under her. She slammed onto her back and found herself staring up at the ceiling.

"Did you just say Sasuke went to Oto?" she asked, grabbing Neji's offered hand and hoisting herself back up onto her feet.

"For about half a semester, before he got some more sense knocked back into his head. Why do you think he and Sakura did not get along for a good part of these past few weeks?"

"I was wondering." She agreed. Tenten glanced over in Team Kakashi's direction. They were resting, and Sakura and Naruto appeared to be teasing Sasuke, playfully whacking him across the head. Kakashi's nose was buried in his little orange book and he appeared lost to the world, though Tenten knew from experience that he would be quick to stop any serious fighting.

"They seem to be getting along now," Tenten remarked, engaging Neji in a new taijutsu dance, "I guess you were right about the clashes passing."

"Yes." They finished in a draw, and stopped to catch their breath. Lee and Gai were still fighting—they never ran out of energy—so Tenten and Neji went to sit against the gym wall and rest for a while. Tenten was perfectly content to teeter between the realms of consciousness and sleep until practice was over.

Neji had other ideas.

"What's your cousin like?" he asked. Tenten started slightly, and was relieved to see that Neji was not looking directly at her.

"I don't know her too well; the girls could answer your questions better than I can." She replied after a few seconds of furious thinking.

"You don't?" Neji faced her, looking rather surprised.

"Well, we've never really talked much before high school, and we have our own lives and friends. We are both orphans, you know."

"Really?" Tenten heard the skepticism in his voice and made a mental note to call Temari and ask her to fabricate a profile for 'Toyo' in the orphanage database. Neji was the sort of person to hack into the government's computers and check for criminal records if he was suspicious enough.

"Yes, really. But I have my own place now and we're working on establishing a relationship, despite the amount of time we didn't know each other. Similar to yours and Hinata's ah, _situation_ a few years back."

"Heard that story have you?" Neji sounded both resigned and slightly ashamed, which was only proper given his past actions and words.

"Yes. You really had severe mental issues when you were thirteen." Neji shrugged, very slightly, in agreement.

"They're gone now." Was his reply.

"Mostly gone." Corrected Tenten. "You're still an ass."

"Ha ha." Said Neji monotonously, without humor. Then, "I've been noticing, for cousins whom, so you say, don't know each other especially well, you both talk the same way."

"Eh? What do you mean?" _Ah, shoot._

"The smart ass comments, so-called witty retorts, the whole package. You were more polite at the beginning of the year."

"Oh, I wasn't aware of that." Tenten forced a sheepish smile, while mentally screaming on the inside.

"I also assume that you didn't realize that you at times sound like a girl?"

"Now that's just rude." Tenten chose to be passive, rather than argue against a Hyuuga. Somehow, she doubted she would be able to hold up if he began guessing her identity. Already she was beginning to panic

"I'm only stating facts." Was Neji's response after a short pause.

"You might want to learn some tact." She replied, "It helps when dealing with girls."

"…But I'm not going to deal with girls."

"What am—is Tenten, then? A dumpling?"

Neji treated her to his best Hyuuga glare.

"Who says I'm pursuing her?"

"You just did."

"What made you assume I was pursuing her?" The throbbing vein in Neji's head had become much bigger, Tenten was able to observe.

"Konoha's rumor mill." She replied, examining her nails, "Among other resources." She glanced back at Neji and couldn't help but shrink back from the suddenly venomous look in Neji's eyes, and the veins standing out around his eyes. Even though Hinata had assured her that it was merely an eye condition unique to the Hyuuga, she still flinched every time Neji or Hinata looked at her when their eyes were so…creepy.

"Lee!" snarled Neji under his breath. Tenten was astonished to see that Neji looked a little flushed, and not just from anger. He started to get up, but Tenten, recognizing the deadly aura and panicking for Lee, put a hand on his arm and forced him down.

"Whoa man," she mentally cringed at the phrase, "Calm down. I didn't hear it from him."

"Then from whom did you hear it?" Tenten gulped nervously and pulled at her collar, unsure of how to answer. "Actually, never mind. You probably won't tell me anyway."

"You're right, I don't give away people's secrets. I'm trustworthy." Agreed Tenten immediately, relieved for the easy way out.

"People who are trustworthy usually have their own secrets to keep."

Or not.

Tenten was kept from having to respond by a sudden crash and loud cursing to their left. Tenten whipped her head around to find that, inexplicably, Akamaru had attached himself to Naruto's backside and in trying to shake the dog off, he had run into the bleachers and broke most of them.

"NARUTO, YOU IDIOT!"

"Dobe, what the hell?"

"Mooning dogs is never a good idea, Naruto."

"YOU DID THAT TO AKAMARU!"

"Idiot."

"N-Naruto-kun! Are you all right?"

"Sakura, please don't strangle your teammate."

"NARUTO! YOUR YOUTH IS ASTOUNDING! BUT SADLY, YOU MUST LEARN SOME COMMON SENSE BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!"

"I should probably go sort that out." Remarked Neji offhandedly, getting up and dusting off his pants. "Want to help?"

"No thank you. I like my nose, no need to get it bitten off."

"Funny." Said Neji dryly. "Again with the wit. Stay here then." He walked over to the bleacher area where at least half of the Shinobi team were trying to separate dog from boy.

Tenten tilted her head and let out a sigh, slumping against the gym wall. She was going to have to learn to be much more careful now, and learn how to think up more stories fast.

_Why did he have to be so freaking smart? _

* * *

After a very long week, the first game day arrived.

Tenten woke up early on Friday morning, a twisting feeling in her stomach. Even in class, with teachers' lectures, tests, and presentations to distract her, the she remained acutely aware of the sensation. Judging from the copious cups of coffee Lee kept downing and Neji's unusual rigidness, they were also nervous.

Tenten didn't have much opportunity to see the other girls or guys, but from what she could tell, they were both excited and nervous for the upcoming match.

Finally, sixth period arrived and the Shinobi team was called out to the team bus. Tenten's excitement went up several notches, as did her anxiety.

Fortunately, Naruto and Kiba somehow got the bright idea to start singing '100 Bottles of Sake'. They were quickly joined by Akamaru (who just sort of howled along), Sakura, Ino, Lee and other boys on the team. Shikamaru just slept through it, Sasuke began attempting to shut Sakura up (he was slapped upside the head for his efforts), Neji and Hinata were too dignified to sing, and Tenten just couldn't hold a tune.

Listening to their teammates bellow the song as loudly as they could amused the others on the bus for a while…until Gai declared a contest in singing ability with Kakashi.

Then everyone stopped singing in favor of scrambling to protect their ears from the now heinous tune.

Nonetheless, Tenten enjoyed herself right up until she saw the gray buildings and the 'welcome to Oto Academy' sign that had been graffitied with a few impressive swear words.

Most of those in the bus had managed to significantly calm down as they looked at their surroundings.

"Woah, this place is depressing," commented Sakura, "Orochimaru isn't exactly an aesthetic person, is he?"

"I'll say." Ino wrinkled her nose in distaste. "They could have at least planted some flowers, or something."

The others in the bus nodded or grunted their agreement. When the bus finally stopped, the Leaf Shinobi got off, carrying their bags over their shoulders.

"Come on, we need to get to the gym." Together, Gai and Kakashi herded the team through the school, ignoring the rude remarks by the Oto students who were either cutting class or leaving because they had no interest in Ninjutsu.

As they passed through the school, the conviction that Oto was not somewhere she would want to be grew stronger in Tenten's mind. The entire place was so…gray. It reminded her of a well kept prison, or a juvenile hall.

The only real positive thing that could be said for the school was that it had a very large, well kept playing field. Tenten, however, couldn't get more than a passing glance at it before her eyes were drawn to the design of a giant purple snake over the doors of the gym. The slitted eyes and exposed fangs made the entire image appear malicious, and she wasn't the only one who shuddered as they passed under it.

As expected, the bleachers were already filled, the number of Oto supporters outweighing Konoha supporters. The bleachers surrounded three sides of the gym, with mats laid down in the center to keep anyone from hurting themselves too badly when they fell. Ignoring the boos and jeers coming their way, Tenten and the rest of the team dumped their things to the side of one of the bleachers and began to warm up. While stretching, Kiba and Naruto compensated for the general lack of reaction by gesturing very rudely in the direction of the jeers.

Cheers abruptly sounded when the Oto team entered the gym. She might have been prejudiced by the things she had heard about them, but Tenten thought that they were definitely people she wouldn't want to be within a ten meter range with.

Turning around to see her teammates' reactions, she could see that none of them were happy to see the team. Sasuke's and Naruto's faces were twisted in grimace, while Sakura sneered at a girl with a peculiar haircut who had gestured rudely at her. Shikamaru seemed to be involved in a staring match with a black haired boy with bandaged arms; Ino was seething at both the boy and the long haired girl besides him. The others held similar expressions of contempt and dislike on their faces, mirrored on the other side as well.

"They look like a nasty bunch," she muttered to Neji, who was closest.

"They are," he confirmed, "Konoha and Oto are too different to really get along. It really doesn't help that the schools themselves are enemies, too."

"Enemies?"

"Toyo, you're occasionally a smart guy." Tenten twitched at the insult but said nothing, "Tsunade and Orochimaru don't get along, and they've channeled down this dislike to their students, do you understand?"

"Yeah, but this isn't some, TV rivalry, shouldn't they be more mature?" Neji nodded his agreement.

"One would think so. Of course, when one meets Jiraiya, one can understand the enmity better." He added. Tenten grimaced at thinking of the fifty–something man's mixture of childish and teenaged behavior.

"Sure, but how—"

"Be quiet, Orochimaru's talking."

Tenten turned to face the man in the center of the gym. She had seen a couple of pictures of him before, so she easily recognized the man with long black hair, gray skin, and yellow eyes as Orochimaru.

Tenten turned away from him and continued to stretch, focusing solely on her task. She didn't stop until Orochimaru had stopped speaking and had announced the first match as Kaguya Kimimaro and Rock Lee. With a burst of delighted energy, Lee bounced onto the floor to greet his silent opponent.

"Well, that's an interesting choice," commented Neji, his eyes trained intently on Kimimaro as the match began.

"Why?" asked Tenten, also watching Kimimaro, surprised that the boy could move so fluidly, so differently from Lee's rapid fire style.

"That Kaguya is a very high level Shinobi, well known for his speed. Very prodigal, well in Uchiha's and my own rank."

"And Lee's not?"

"No, but they are both so fast, if either one cheats, the referee might not be able to see it."

"But Lee wouldn't cheat."

"Kimimaro might." Said Neji darkly.

Neji's fears were unfounded. While Lee did lose, Kimimaro was a gracious winner and did not ridicule Lee, despite his classmates' actions to the contrary. Lee also seemed to take his loss rather well; indeed, Tenten privately thought that had he won, he wouldn't have looked half as happy as when Sakura comforted him by complimenting his footwork.

Sakura was called up for the next match. Her opponent was called Karin; Tenten noted that she was the girl who had flipped Sakura off prior to the game.

"Good, a match we can actually see." Said Tenten.

"Looks like it will be a good one, as well." Commented Neji, watching the match carefully, "They seemed to be equal in ability, though Sakura's stronger, this Karin is faster."

"Orochimaru is really an idiot." Tenten was surprised to see Sasuke look…almost worried. "Sakura's going to kill her."

"What makes you so sure?" inquired Neji, turning to face the other prodigy.

"Remember when I told you about the psycho fan girls?"

"She's one of them?" Tenten cut in as soon as she realized the implication of what was probably going to happen.

"Yeah."

"Uh oh." Right as Tenten summed up the general feelings; Karin said something unintelligible to Sakura while blocking her arm. Judging from how Sakura's face went dark with rage, it was no compliment.

"Exactly." Said Sasuke. He watched intently as Sakura, grabbing and using Karin's arm as leverage, swung her leg up and around to make contact with Karin's back, knocking the other girl down to the ground with a loud crash. When Karin was too dazed to get back up, Sakura was declared the winner. She marched back to the team, back stiff with anger. She refused to repeat what Karin had said to her, but was placated by most of the compliments and Sasuke's hand on her shoulder.

Shino's match wasn't of much interest, as he was considerably more skilled than his rather brutish opponent and had the guy on the mats in less than thirty seconds. Sasuke's own match was much the same, though the Oto kids and team booed him the entire time.

After him was Ino against Kin, which stopped being a real fight after about a minute and quickly became a catfight. Members from both teams were needed to separate the clawing and shrieking girls, and the match was given to Kin because Ino initiated the catfight.

"Ino, what just happened?" Tenten was considerably shocked as Sakura led a nail-marked and scratched up Ino off the mats. She knew the Ino sometimes let emotions get the better of her, but when they had been on the Sand Kunoichi, she had generally been completely professional. Tenten had never seen her lose control like that.

"Oh, nothing worth noting. My clothes just got dirtied by trash, that's all." Ino said, her voice clearly carrying across the gym. The 'piece of trash' responded with what Tenten assumed to be a very detailed, physically impossible description of what Ino should now do.

"Do I want to know?" she asked Sakura.

"It would be better not to ask." Hinata advised, coming up to join the small cluster. "Look, Shikamaru's against..uh oh."

"Uh oh what?" Ino swiveled her head around to look behind her. Tenten followed her gaze to see that Shikamaru's opponent was the black haired boy he had been glaring at earlier.

"Oh! Go Shika-kun!" yelled Ino as they began the match, "Kick that idiot's ass into the next century!"

"Old boyfriend?" Tenten inquired, recognizing the vengeful glint in the blonde's eyes.

"Yep, and the girl she just fought is his girlfriend." Explained Sakura.

"Ah." _Now __**that**__ makes sense._

Using a considerable amount of strategy and very little of his arms, Shikamaru was able to defeat Zaku, much to Ino's delight. Then, much to the girls' (including Tenten) amusement, she jumped on Shikamaru as soon as he left the mats and kissed him on the cheek as a thank you. The boy promptly turned the most interesting shade of purple Tenten had ever seen on a human.

The rest of the fights seemed to go by too fast for Tenten. She only could remember images, from, Naruto's loud, flashy fight with a mummy boy, ending in victory, to Akamaru biting the Oto teen who defeated Kiba somewhere unpleasant. Hinata's surprise win against a brash redhead to Chouji simply hitting his opponent hard in the back, knocking the boy unconscious.

Then it was her turn. She was against some boy with a cocky grin and blue hair called Suigetsu. While taller than her, they had similar builds, so she wasn't exactly at a visible disadvantage.

When the match started, they only circled each other at first, sizing up the other with their eyes. Then Tenten struck, hitting him in the stomach with her left hand, following up immediately with a right-handed chop. Suigetsu blocked the chop with crossed forearms, and kicked Tenten in the side with his right leg with enough force to make her stagger and almost fall.

A quick cartwheel got her back on her feet steady enough to grab the arm Suigetsu had thrown to punch her with without being thrown off balance. She yanked his arm, intending for him to be pulled to her. Unfortunately, Suigetsu was strong enough that he was only pulled forward a little, not enough to make a difference. Tenten was forced to let go of his arm and jump out of the way of another kick, and behind Suigetsu.

While he turned furiously in every direction, trying to find her, Tenten made sure to always stay behind his back as she tried to think up a new strategy to defeat him. An idea popped into her head and out of pure desperation, she put it into action without thinking it through.

She allowed Suigetsu to face her and crouched down and swung a leg out to sweep Suigetsu's feet out from under him. While successful, Suigetsu was able to catch himself before he fell and bounced back up.

…Only to have Tenten's foot shoot out and catch him hard in the stomach unaware. He stumbled back, off balance, and fell after Tenten twisted around and chopped him on the neck.

"Match over. Victory goes to Katana." Announced the referee, to Tenten's relief.

She walked back towards her team, wincing only a little from the kick. Sakura and Ino immediately grabbed her in a group hug and almost knocked her over. Hinata smiled while Lee punched her on the shoulder to show his congratulations, which sent her and the two girls down.

After her, Neji was the last one up. He went against Juugo, a giant with orange hair who was surprisingly nimble despite his large size. The match ended in his favor, though for a moment there had been a scare when it looked like Juugo had fallen on top of Neji. But Neji's speed managed to keep him out of danger.

The referee announced the game over and Konoha the winner. The announcement was met with cheers by the Konoha side and much booing and swearing on Oto side.

Tenten couldn't help but let out a whoop, pleased that she had won her first match against a boy, already beginning to prove her point. If she could keep winning, she would be able to show that girls could fight boys, as long as it was an equal match.

Gai took her aside as the Leaf Shinobi began to head back to the bus.

"Toyo-kun."

"Yes, Gai-sensei?" inquired Tenten, relieved that Gai wasn't slipping up about her name.

"You did an excellent job in your match today, very nice work."

"Thank you, Gai-sensei."

"But in the future, please don't use delaying tactics; frankly, it makes you look like you've only studied the Kunoichi style." Tenten mentally flinched, berating herself for the slip up.

"I won't, Gai-sensei."

"I would suggest that you should start sparring with me instead of Neji, let the boys spar with each other for a change. I'll teach you a few new moves."

"Really?" Tenten felt a grin spread across her face, "Thank you!"

"No problem. Now hurry, unless you want to run back to Konoha." Tenten yelped and ran towards the bus, everyone else had already gotten on and the bus driver was not a patient man. The second she and Gai boarded the bus the doors were closed with a snap and they were off.

Scanning the rows she passed for an open seat, Tenten slid into the one next to Neji, after finding that all others were full.

"What was Gai talking to you about?" Tenten turned to face Neji, who was leaning back in his seat, eyes closed, his temple slightly bruised.

"He wants to teach me some new moves," she answered honestly, seeing no reason to lie. Neji cracked an eyelid half open and peered out at her sleepily, making her blush and look away from him.

"Aa." He said nothing else. When Tenten dared to look at him, she found that Neji was asleep, arms crossed, and head resting on his right shoulder, away from her.

_He's going to have one hell of a stiff neck when he wakes up, _thought Tenten, smiling a little at how…harmless he looked.

At least until a particularly sharp turn made his head flop over onto Tenten's shoulder, much to her mortification. Even after pushing him off her, the blush on her face remained, as well as a single thought.

_I think I might really, really like Neji._

_What am I supposed to do?_

* * *

A/N: Anyone confused by the matches? If so, I'm sorry. Ninjustsu isn't based off any sport in particular and I'm still trying to get the rules straight.

Review please!


	11. New Entanglements

A/N: I think school is trying to screw me over. That is the only explanation I can offer for the lateness of this chapter.

* * *

"Go Tenten, go Tenten! Did you see that Kankuro?"

"Yeah, Temari, I did, now please stop with the victory dance. Gaara's going to have a hard time this year, won't he?"

"Yeah, probably will—crap! Forgot about him!"

"What?"

"Gaara!"

"What about Gaara?"

"Does he know about Tenten?"

"No, but does it matter? He wouldn't mind seeing Dad knocked down a few pegs."

"Not the point. Remember that Neji kid?"

"What about him?"

"He might actually have the brains to call Gaara and ask him about Tenten!"

"So?"

"Think about it. Gaara. Shi-no-bi captain. Of team 'Toyo' was former member of but he does not know that other he former member, because he no exist!"

"…Temari, you aren't making any sense."

_Slap_

"Are you_ trying_ to _kill_ me?"

"Just call Gaara. _Now_."

* * *

If there was one thing that Tenten could be counted on to do, it was to be able to wake up ridiculously early in the morning completely refreshed and ready to start the day.

But only on the weekdays.

Weekends were a completely different story. When it was the weekend, all she wanted to do was sleep until three in the afternoon or even later.

She had yet to achieve this goal, but nevertheless she liked knowing that she had the option.

So when the phone rang one Saturday at five in the morning, Tenten woke up fervently hoping it was just a dream.

_Ring _

_Someone, anyone, __**please**__ turn off the hell bell!_

_Ring_

_I'm waiting…_

_Ring_

_God, apparently, is deaf to my prayers. Maybe he was offended when I swore?_

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Grumbled Tenten as she felt around on her bedside table for where her phone was supposed to be. Once her fingers had located the piece of metal, she clicked the talk button and put it up to her ear.

"Who is this and what do you want?" she snapped not-very-cordially into the phone.

"Tenten?" The sound of Neji's voice made her eyes snap open and fall off the bed. Hastily, she clambered back onto her bed, heart thudding in her throat.

"Neji-san? Why are you calling me? Actually, how'd you get my phone number?"

"Just call me Neji, it's easier. Hinata gave it to me when I asked her."

"Oh."

Awkward pause.

"So, what are you calling me about, Neji?" She asked, annoyed that just calling him by his name as a girl, when she had been doing it for months as a boy, she was turning red with embarrassment.

"I hope I won't sound too forward, or disturbing, or stalker-like by asking this," he began awkwardly (Tenten wondered how he could use so many large words so early in the morning), "But I was wondering…you were captain of the Sand Kunoichi, correct?"

"Yeah, I was. Did you call just to confirm this fact?" Her early weekend morning crankiness inadvertently seeped into her tone, and almost immediately she forced it back. "Besides, my room only has one window that no one can see into. I don't have to worry about a stalker. Which you would know if you were stalking me. Duh."

"Of course." There was some amusement in Neji's voice, Tenten was relieved that he hadn't taken offense at her sarcasm. "Anyway, I was wondering, would you like to spar with me some time?"

"Spar with you?" repeated Tenten, a little confused.

"Yes, so that, well, we could get to know each other." The last five words were spoken in an almost incomprehensible mutter.

"Like a date?"

"…only romantics would call it that."

Tenten felt a smile lift the corners of her mouth.

"Well, Neji, you'll be glad to know I'm not a very romantic person. What time?"

"Ten in the morning sound good?"

"Today?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No."

"Good. Do you know where the house is?"

"Yeah but—"

"See you here." There was a click on the other line, and Tenten could only stare at her now-buzzing phone before she snorted in amusement.

"Sakura's right, the pretty ones always has revenge issues." She mumbled to herself as she rolled out of bed (she wasn't about to fall back asleep) to get ready for the day ahead of her.

* * *

Despite having been a friend of Hinata's for three years, she had only visited the enormous Hyuuga home once or twice before, both times when it was empty save for Hanabi, Hinata's little sister.

Tenten was secretly grateful that Hinata never suggested her house for their gatherings, as the place struck her as rather empty and forbidding.

She drove up into the driveway, feeling, as she always did in such wealthy neighborhoods, that she stood out like a sore thumb. The white house was completely immaculate and perfect looking, as though it was still brand new. The yard was arranged elegantly with native flowers and plants, with a koi pond right in the center.

She rang the doorbell, feeling even more self conscious, as though every neighbor on that perfect street was pulling back their curtains to see who was disturbing their perfect tranquility.

The feeling quickly went away as soon as Hinata opened the door and smiled at her.

"Good morning, Tenten-chan. Neji's already down in the training room. Follow me." Tenten nodded gratefully and entered the house, closing the door behind her before going after Hinata.

The 'training room' was actually a refurbished basement, turned into a miniature dojo by Hiashi. Or so Hinata explained as they went down the stairs that led to the so called training room.

When they entered, true to Hinata's words, Neji was already there, tossing kunai at a target with deadly accuracy, almost as deadly as her own. He stopped and turned to them, offering both girls a short bow.

"Thanks for showing Tenten down here, Hinata-sama."

"Not a problem, Neji-kun. Tenten-chan, I'll be with Hanabi upstairs if you need me." With a quick, small smile, Hinata exited the room.

"Why did you call her Hinata-sama?" asked Tenten once she was sure that Hinata couldn't hear her anymore.

"Habit." Neji shrugged very lightly, looking almost embarrassed, "When we were younger, we used to play games where she was a queen and I was her deadliest commander. It just stuck. But enough of that, shall we spar?"

Tenten nodded and moved into a defensive stance. With a flick of the wrist, she beckoned him to her.

"Your lead."

* * *

They sparred until noon, but unlike the serious spars which 'Toyo' and Neji generally had, this spar was more relaxed, not so much sparring as talking while giving their bodies something to do.

Tenten couldn't help but feel secretly pleased with how well everything was going. It was nice just to be able to talk to Neji, and as long as she remembered that she was not Toyo at the moment, she was safe. For the most part, their conversation's main subjects were Sakura and Ino, though he did ask her about Kankuro and Gaara at one point. It seemed that they were actually friends of sorts off the Shinobi season.

But gradually, the subject turned to the Sand Kunoichi.

"Why did they cut the team?" asked Neji as they sat under a shady tree out in the backyard during a break in their sparring. Tenten gulped down half a glass of water before answering. Sparring with Neji always made her very thirsty.

"Something about budget, not enough girls signed up to try out, the usual bull," she said conversationally, setting the glass on the tray of refreshments that Hinata had thoughtfully provided. She stretched luxuriously, almost catlike, not noticing Neji's eyes on her.

"Bull?" he inquired politely.

"Well, no matter what way you look at it, the decision to actually cut the team was just stupid. Enough girls signed up to make a team, just not enough to cull the weaker ones. We would've had to take them on anyway and 'waste time and money' with them. At least, in his words." She snorted contemptuously.

"I see. And you were not permitted to join the boys' team?"

"No, and even if we had been, it probably wouldn't have made much of a difference. Girls are only allowed to be _Genin_, after all." Contempt seeped into her tone.

"What's wrong with that?" asked Neji, brow furrowing.

Tenten stared incredulously at him.

"…You did not just ask me that. Neji, everyone knows that recruiters _never_ look at the Genin matches except to check the score ratio to the Chuunin matches! Keeping girls on Shinobi teams as Genin keeps them out of the spotlight, and thus, we don't get recruited, because they assume we aren't very good."

"But many of the girls who are serious about it usually…" he trailed off awkwardly, realizing that the good kunoichi weren't able to do anything 'usually'.

"See my point?" Tenten smiled, slightly bitterly.

"Yes," Neji admitted, "But it is also true that most girls who try out for the Shinobi team are not exceptional enough to make Chuunin."

"Sakura and Ino were Chuunin on my team." She pointed out, a little miffed, "Why aren't they good enough to be Chuunin on yours? I know you had room." Upon seeing his inquiring expression she added, "Toyo-kun told me."

"I don't need to explain to you, but to keep you from persisting: there were guys trying out for Genin that _should_ have been on Chuunin. Like Shikamaru. Know him?"

"The lazy ass?"

"For the most part."

"Ino has been ranting about him nonstop for the past two or three months, I have a good idea of his personality by now."

"Ah." Amusement, mused Tenten, really became Neji.

"But what's your stand on the Kunoichi-Shinobi problem?" Tenten stared directly at him, making sure that Neji would take her question seriously. He kept eye contact, but while his face betrayed no emotions, Tenten noted that his fingers were tugging the grass minutely, unconsciously pulling out the blades.

It reminded her, for some silly reason, of Hinata's habit of poking her forefingers together when she was nervous.

"I don't have much of an opinion on it. I just think that the best need to be at the top. Gender isn't much of an issue." He abruptly stood, intimidating Tenten with his towering height. "Your friends were good, but they would not have been able to defeat most of any male opponents they might have had. Mentally, perhaps, but not physically. But enough of this, did my answer satisfy you?"

"No. But I'm not going to be getting another one, will I?"

Neji's mouth curled up into something that could have almost been called a smile, had he not been Neji.

"No, and thank you for recognizing that. Would you like to spar some more, or do you want to go home?"

"I still need to kick your ass." Tenten quickly jumped to her feet and readied herself as though they were going to start fighting right then and there.

"Very well. Good luck with that."

* * *

A couple hours later, Tenten was ready to go home. Sparring was fun and all, but she did have weekend homework, and needed to at least start it.

"Thank you for inviting me over, Neji."

"You're welcome."

Awkward silence.

"We should do this again, sometimes."

"I suppose so, but…" Tenten was astonished to see Neji looking almost embarrassed, "We probably should do things differently."

"Like?" Tenten prompted. She found the irritated glare he gave her when she refused to give him an easy way out amusing, and fought down a laugh.

"A date."

"Isn't this a date?" she joked, trying to calm down the sudden butterflies in her stomach.

"…"

"Okay, okay, totally not funny. Sure, I'd like to date you. I mean, um, well, uh—yeah." Tenten wished she didn't babble so much. It would make things so much easier.

"Hm. I'll call you then?" Apparently pleased with her answer, Neji no longer looked embarrassed, just apathetic as usual. One of the hands at his side came up and brushed the side of her face.

"Uh, sure, yeah." She was blushing, she could feel it.

"Very well." He nodded good-bye to her before heading back into the house. Tenten watched his retreating back with a dumbfounded look on her face. She quickly shook herself out of it, got into her car, and drove off.

_I need advice. Now.

* * *

_

"Hello?"

"Sakura?"

"Hey Tenten, what's up?"

"Is Ino there? I need help. Now."

"Oh…sure. Hang on a sec." Tenten heard Sakura call her roommate's name and the sound of heels clip clopping towards the phone.

"Yeah?"

"Ino, it's Tenten."

"No duh. What's up?"

"I've been having some, um, _guy problems_."

"Ah. What did you do to Neji?"

"How did you—"

"It's pretty obvious when one's friend is romantically-obsessed. Now spill."

"Well, today he invited me over to spar—"

"Were you Toyo or Tenten?"

"Tenten."

"Ah, interesting. Anything juicy happen?"

"Not really, we just talked and sparred for a few hours. After that," Tenten briefly swallowed before continuing, "He asked if we could go out some time, you know, like a real date."

Tenten dropped the phone at the two sudden, girlish squeals that emitted from the phone.

"Tenten that's great!" Sakura gushed; Tenten could hear the grin in her voice. There were sounds of struggle on the other line and Ino's voice came through.

"Yeah, so what's the problem? Clearly, you two have chemistry. What's stopping you?"

"Let me see, if he knows me as a girl, he might rat me out, 'cause he's that smart. Second, what if I pull an Ino—"

"_Hey!_"

"You didn't even let me finish."

"I already know it's going to be bad!"

"Ugh," Tenten rolled her eyes but didn't finish her train of thought. "You get my point, what should I do?"

"Go for it. Duh."

"Seriously?"

"Of course she's serious. Gossip is the only thing that Ino takes seriously." Sakura had taken control of the phone a second time. Tenten could hear Ino yelling indignantly in the background.

"But didn't you hear me—"

"Tenten, must I remind you of your pitiful list of past boyfriends?"

"No you don't—"

"Let's see," Ino had stolen back control of the phone, "First you had an obscene crush on some weirdo called Gyoza, of all things—"

"He was really nice!" protested Tenten, feeling a blush crawl across her cheeks. "Even if his parents were a tad obsessed with food!"

"Meh, whatever."

"Yeah," agreed Sakura, back on the phone, and judging from the lack of outside sounds, Tenten concluded that the two friends had finally figured out that they should share the phone. "And then you dated that person, oh, what's-his-name…"

"Idate?" suggested Ino.

"Exactly, pig. Then there was Souta, the kid who stalked you, and some guy that had rabies. Oh, and don't get me started with Kankuro—"

"It was one date!" protested Tenten, trying desperately to block her memories of that little date. Sakura of all people should remember the mental scarring!

"—Then you decided you wanted to be a cradle robber and started going out with _Gaara_ of all people…"

"Hey! I'm one year older! That's not a big difference! Ino, I know you can hear me! Don't be a hypocrite!"

"Maybe not, I'm just glad that relationship ended. Imagine having an insomniac of all people as a husband!" Ino laughed good-naturedly into the phone, cheerfully oblivious to the Tenten Death Glower from the other end.

"Can we stop focusing on my past love life please?" snapped Tenten in annoyance. "I need advice on what is happening _now_."

"Tenten, don't worry. Go for him!"

"But what about my cover?"

"You can handle it, don't worry." The confidence in Ino's voice reassured Tenten.

"Well, if you say so…"

"Listen to Ino-pig, Tenten. Just focus on impressing him on your date."

"I guess. One problem though—he hasn't asked me out officially yet."

"Want me to stalk him for you until he does? It's easy enough to do."

"_INO_!"

* * *

Exactly one week later, Tenten found herself at a party with Neji…one that "Toyo" was required to attend.

"This sucks," she grumbled half-heartedly to herself as she pulled off the dress she had arrived at the party in, putting on instead a pair of slacks and a t shirt.

"But Tenten-chan, didn't you expect that this would happen?" Hinata leaned on the wall opposite her, watching as her friend turned into Toyo, if only for a moment.

"Well, yeah. Just not for it to be this troublesome!" Grabbing some tissues, she wiped the light make up off her face and undid her hair, pulling it into a makeshift ponytail. Tenten stuffed her clothes into the bag she had brought for the occasion and straightened herself out, hoping like hell that she looked convincing.

"Then why go through it all?" Tenten looked towards Hinata, making eye contact with the genuinely confused girl.

"You know why, don't ask me that."

"But couldn't you have cancelled, at least Toyo's appearance, if you want so badly to be with my cousin?" inquired Hinata, an unusually small, smug smile on her face. Tenten shot her a mild glare.

"If you were Ino or Sakura I would smack you."

"I am very well aware of that Tenten-chan." Tenten redirected her glare to the cup Hinata was holding, wondering suspiciously if it was tainted with alcohol, because the younger girl was _not_ being herself.

"Besides, Kakashi made it mandatory for all male team members to be at this party, though how he would know that we were here when he _isn't _here I don't know. But everyone says he will, so I had to come."

"He is a talented man, Kakashi-sensei." Was all Hinata had to say on the topic. Tenten simply rolled her eyes and left the room, Hinata following close behind.

Under ordinary circumstances, Tenten would have probably enjoyed herself very much. Kiba had organized the whole thing himself, and she swore that at least half the school was jammed into the house. People were dancing, drinking spiked punch, making fools of themselves and generally having a blast.

Tenten pushed through the crowd, trying to get to where Neji was; the living room. They had arrived together, Tenten not having the guts (or the will) to turn him down when he asked her to come with him. His reasoning was that they should have a date somewhere in public where her friends would be, to keep her from being too nervous.

Ordinarily, she would have appreciated his thoughtfulness, but the night ahead promised to be a hectic one, and she couldn't help but feel very irritated, mostly with herself. She comforted herself with knowing that Neji would probably only have to see "Toyo" a couple of times before she wouldn't have to change back any more.

"Oi, Hyuuga!" she called, consciously remembering that she was, right now, Toyo, and if she screwed up she would be stuck in something nasty. Neji looked up from his conversation with Lee, and acknowledged her with a nod.

"Have you seen your cousin?" he asked once Tenten was within hearing range of him.

"Yeah, I saw Tenten. She's doing something with her friends involving matchmaking, I was afraid to ask." The lie was an easy one; Tenten knew she would have been dragged into such activities, had she not had more pressing matters to attend to.

"Aa," agreed Neji.

"Listen, Tenten's a big girl; she can take care of herself and any man who tries to take advantage of her. So don't expect to see me very often. That good?"

"If it's fine with Tenten. I merely assumed that she would be more comfortable if she was surrounded with people she knew."

"Then inviting her to this party was pretty stupid, I mean, she knows only like, five percent of the people here." Neji simply shrugged at the comment.

"Nevertheless, she accepted me. And unless you have anything you absolutely must say, I would suggest that you hide." Offended, Tenten almost opened her mouth to retort, but something in his face made her turn around to look behind her instead.

She did a double take. Standing directly behind her were three girls, with different hair and eye colors, but with three identical, maniacal grins plastered on their faces.

"Hi, Toyo-kun!" they chorused, the creepy smiles never leaving their faces. Tenten, freaked out, nervously backed away and around them, catching Neji's barely audible mutter about fan girls.

"Um, hi?" Tenten attempted a nervous smile and immediately regretted it when the girls' smiles became even more disturbing.

"Do you want to dance with us?" they asked, their creepy smiles becoming even creepier. Behind them, Neji and Lee were making rapid shooing gestures. Tenten chose to follow the unspoken advice.

"No, thank you," she said with a weak smile, slowly backing away from the psychos, feeling distinctly cornered.

"Aw, come on, Toyo-kun!" The three lunged at poor Tenten, but she sidestepped and turned to run in the opposite direction, as far away from the three as possible. They followed, but it was easy for Tenten to lose them in the crowd of dancers.

_And there were only three of them! How do Neji and Sasuke bear the hordes?_

Considerably creeped out, Tenten searched and entered the first empty closet she could find; figuring that Neji had been kept waiting for long enough. Besides, by the time she had to resurface as a boy, the fan girls would probably be busy bothering someone else.

She changed quickly, half-wishing that she had a mirror with her to help her fix her hair buns. They kept feeling like they were done wrong when she couldn't see them, and in a fit of anger at the fifth try, Tenten chose not to bother, leaving her hair loose around her shoulders.

Hoping desperately the Chinese-styled dress and quick make up job would be enough as a disguise, Tenten exited from the closet and began to yet again wind her way through the crowd. She passed Hinata dancing with Naruto, clearly emboldened by the spiked punch (not that Naruto was complaining) and Ino flirting with boys that Tenten didn't know while Shikamaru scowled from across the room where he and Chouji were sitting together.

Sakura was nowhere in sight, but Tenten noted Sasuke scanning the dancers, looking (for him) unusually perplexed. Their eyes met as she passed, and his scowl seemed to deepen for some strange reason. Uneasily, Tenten wondered if he had recognized her, but brushed it off. There was no way he could make that sort of connection without some very strong proof.

Tenten made her way back to Neji, making sure that her dress was straight and her hair as tame as it could possibly be.

"Neji!" she called, to get his attention. Neji immediately looked up from his conversation with Lee and beckoned her over with a small smile. She smiled back and sat down next to him, across from Lee, who looked like he would burst a blood vessel from smiling so widely.

"I don't think that we've met, flower of youth!" Lee took her hand and pretended to kiss it, without his lips making contact with her skin, for which Tenten was grateful. "I am the Green Beast, Rock Lee."

"Pleasure to meet you, Lee. I'm Tenten." Tenten smiled amicably at Lee, amused by his unusually gentlemanly manners.

"Neji had told me much about you, you two seem to have gotten very close in such a short period of time."

"Knowing the same people helps," admitted Tenten, shrugging. "And my cousin's a good source of information. Heh, Toyo's been complaining about being interrogated every time I see him."

"Neji is not very good at making requests of people." Agreed Lee, smiling.

"Toyo actually told me that Neji prefers to fight to being polite, is that true?"

"He was mixing me up with Uchiha."

"I doubt it. Toyo never lies, at least not to me."

"Well, Tenten-san, is he very close to you?"

"For the most part, sometimes he acts more like an annoying brother than a cousin."

"Then perhaps he is like Neji, who never allows Hinata-san anywhere near a young man." Startled by the subtle jab at Neji coming from Lee of all people, Tenten burst out laughing.

"Lee…" growled Neji in warning.

"What?" Lee was somehow managing to look completely unabashed, "There are many boys who would have liked a chance with Hinata-san, but you chased almost all of them away!" The murderous look on Neji's face had Tenten doubling over with laughter.

To add fuel to the fire, Tenten asked "But what about Naruto? I passed him and Hinata dancing together, he didn't look put off at all!"

Lee chuckled, pointedly ignoring the steam rising from Neji's ears, "Naruto-san has always been an, ah, special case."

"Oh really? Do tell."

The conversation continued in this thread for some time, until Neji inexplicably decided that he wanted to dance and dragged Tenten away from Lee. While he achieved his purpose, a slow song had started to play, and Tenten forced him to stay on the dance floor, swaying with her and other couples to the music. Other than slight grumbling, he didn't seem to mind very much.

Tenten was able to dance for two songs with Neji before they were interrupted by a disheveled Kiba.

"Hey Neji," he interrupted, panting, "Have you seen Toyo anywhere? Some crazy fan girls of his are tearing the place up!" Upon noticing Tenten he promptly did a double take, "Whoa! Who's the pretty lady who looks freakishly like Toyo?"

"This is Tenten, Toyo's cousin." Explained Neji briefly. Despite his surprise, Kiba grinned, amused.

"Nice to meet 'cha. I'm Kiba, your cousin probably mentioned me and my awesomeness. But anyway, Neji, I thought you told Naruto that people shouldn't date their friends' relatives. Are you being a hypocrite? I thought you said you hated hypocrites—"

"What do you need Toyo for?" cut in Tenten, wanting very much to avoid a maiming.

"I dunno, just lure them out of the house or something. Do you know where he is?"

"I'll go look for him. Be back soon, Neji." Tenten darted away before her date could say anything else.

Once again she wove through the crowd, returning to the same closet, and after a quick check inside for kissing couples, locked herself in as she changed a third time.

"This is getting more troublesome by the moment," she grumbled, rushing out as quickly as she could, almost bumping into Sasuke, who looked mildly surprised to see her exiting a closet.

"Sorry," she mumbled, skirting around him.

"Katana," Tenten stopped and turned reluctantly to face Sasuke.

"What?"

"Why are you wearing lipstick?" Confused, Tenten gingerly touched her lips. Her fingers came away pink with gloss. She had forgotten to clean her face of cosmetics.

"Don't ask." She hurried away from Sasuke as fast as she could, mentally and physically hitting herself on the head for her carelessness. If anyone else asked, she would remember to mention a nonexistent girlfriend.

That wouldn't explain the mascara, but it was good enough.

The fan girls weren't hard to locate and even easier to get rid of. Really, all she had to do was let them catch sight of her besides the pool, let them capture her, agree to dance with them, then while they were squabbling over who got to dance with her first, gently 'nudge' them into the pool. The fan girls' distress over their state meant that they would be preoccupied for the rest of the night, and that Tenten (hopefully) wouldn't have to bother with being Toyo again, considering that pretty much everyone had seen her after that amusing little stunt.

So, once again, Tenten slipped into the same closet and changed, but this time checking quickly around for Sasuke; she had seen him around this particular area one too many times for her not to be suspicious of him being suspicious of her. Fortunately, he was nowhere to be seen.

As usual, she changed quickly, taking extra care not to be careless and forget something that could give her double identity away. She opened the closet door carefully, casting a wary eye around, and seeing no one looking in her particular direction, exited and began to make her way back to Neji.

* * *

Sakura was bored.

Why was she bored? Well, for starters, Hinata had quickly gotten slightly drunk from the spiked punch and had left her to dance with Naruto. Not that Sakura was complaining, it was about time the girl took the initiative, and Naruto was definitely enjoying himself, judging from the stupid grin on his face.

Second, Ino had found boys that she wanted to flirt with and also abandoned her for them. Her purpose, it seemed, was to make Shikamaru jealous and come get her. While the first part of the plan was clearly taking effect, the second part seemed to be a very long work in progress, and not one Ino planned on giving up any time soon.

So that left Sakura, for the most part, by herself. Occasionally she found diversion with a pretty boy or two who would ask her to dance, but for most part she spent her time leaning against the wall, a cup in her hand which she sipped out of while observing the intimates in the room.

She hoped Tenten was having a good time with Neji. However, despite the advice she gave to the contrary, Sakura wasn't entirely sure that going out with him when she had a second identity to maintain was such a good idea. It was confusing, and would be a sticky, complicated mess if anybody found out.

As a disheveled, still wearing make-up 'Toyo' dashed by her, heading for a closet-turned-changing room, she couldn't help but wonder if telling Tenten to accept Neji's invitation had been such a good idea after all.

Her doubts were further increased when she saw Sasuke begin to make his way over to where Tenten was situated. Sakura quickly made a beeline for him, having a good idea of what he was after.

"Hey Sasuke!" The Uchiha reluctantly stopped and turned around to face Sakura.

"What?"

"Nothing, but it's boring and I saw you, so whatcha doing?" she asked in a perky, overtly cheerful tone.

"None of your business." He tried to turn around and resume his path, but Sakura grabbed his arm to prevent him from doing so, the first time she willingly made physical contact with him all year. He stared at her hand on his sleeve, and then redirected his gaze to her face, making her flush.

"Why are you following Toyo?" she asked in what she hoped was an innocent tone.

"He's been acting weird." Was the short reply as he tried to turn around again. Sakura kept her firm grip on him, knowing that she was strong enough to keep him facing her and away from Tenten for at least a little while longer.

"So? He always acts funny." She kept one eye on the door Tenten was behind, hoping desperately that the girl would come out and make her escape _quickly_.

"I don't think that cross-dressing is funny, do you?"

"What are you talking about?" Sakura tried not to show the fear she suddenly felt.

_Did he find out?_

"Toyo has been going in that room or closet or whatever all night." Sasuke gestured behind him, "And every time I turn around, I see a girl who isn't Toyo but looks a lot like him come out. I might be wrong, but I just need to make sure." He pulled out of Sakura's grip and began to turn around a second time, right as Tenten (as a girl) was exiting the closet.

Panicking, Sakura did something both ingenious and very stupid.

Grabbing Sasuke's shoulder, she forced him yet again to face her, then grabbed the front of his shirt, jerked him down, and…

She kissed him.

It wasn't much of a kiss, all things considered, as Sakura was in a distressed state of mind and Sasuke had probably gone into shock from the action, but it was still a mind-numbing experience.

After a few, very long moments had passed, Sakura broke the kiss.

"Oh, God, Sasuke-kun! I'm sorry, I didn't mean—I mean—it was, um—something in the punch! Yeah, the alcohol made me do it, I'm really sorry…"

Sasuke only looked dumbfounded.

"I gotta go, bye!" Sakura dashed off, her mind scrambled, knowing only that she needed to get far away from Sasuke as quickly as she could.

For his part, while Sasuke remembered what his original purpose had been, and probably could have connected the kiss to the purpose had he tried, his hormones clouded his brain completely and forced out most rational thought.

He turned and began to search for Naruto; punching something always made him feel better.

* * *

Oblivious to Sakura's plight, Tenten spent the rest of the night as herself, with Neji and some of the other boys he hung out with. She enjoyed talking to them immensely, though she almost slipped up on a couple of occasions. Because of the probability of her slipping up when she was sober was pretty high, Tenten made sure not to touch the punch (which, after Naruto's attempt to strip, she knew was spiked).It was midnight before she pleaded exhaustion with Neji and they left the party. He drove her to her apartment, and being the gentleman that he was, insisted on walking her to her apartment door. 

"That was a lot of fun, Neji." They were standing outside her door.

"It wasn't bad. Why did you keep disappearing?"

"To look for Toyo. He's always disappearing all over the place; he isn't very fond of parties, you know."

"Ah." Tenten waited for him to say anything else, but he didn't.

"Well, good night." Standing on tiptoe, she leaned forward, intending just to kiss him on the cheek. However, Neji turned his head, so that their lips met instead.

While surprising, it was most certainly not unpleasant, and Tenten returned the kiss as much as she could.

"You know, you could have just asked," she remarked when they broke for air, slightly annoyed by the smug look on Neji's face.

"Sorry." He said, not looking the least bit apologetic. Tenten just smirked and shook her head.

"Yeah right. I'll call you?" Neji inclined his head slightly to show his agreement, and Tenten gave him a quick peck on the cheek (which he did not stop) before unlocking the door and entering her apartment.

She waited for Neji's footsteps to fade before letting out a raucous laugh and flopping over onto the couch. Tenten knew that things would get difficult, she always knew that, but as of right now, she really didn't give a damn.

* * *

A/N: Hope you all liked the NejiTen. I didn't mean to make it this fluffy, actually.

The SasuSaku may seem a bit random, but these two need something big to propel any relationship they'll ever have forward, and it shows (I hope) that Sakura (and Ino) are willing to do almost anything to get what they want.

Please review!


	12. Transition

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

* * *

After the events that had taken place, Tenten would have thought that, come Monday, _she_ would be the one to have trouble keeping her composure, considering she _had_ kissed her own team captain.

This, surprisingly, was not so.

"Sakura," A muscle tick had developed on Tenten's forehead as she tried to drag the younger girl towards Konoha Academy, "Come on. Be a woman and own up to your actions! We're going to be late!"

"Yes, Sakura-chan, Sasuke-san will probably not talk to you about it anyway, so please stop being difficult." Hinata insisted, trying to be helpful as she, Ino, and Toyo tried dragging the unwilling girl towards the academic part of the campus, to the bemusement of the other students.

"No, he will incinerate me with his eyes!" wailed Sakura overdramatically, digging her heels into the ground and significantly slowing down the process.

"What's she talking about?" Tenten asked Ino in an undertone. Ino looked surprised, and a little condescending.

"Haven't you noticed? Sasuke-kun has very, well, strange eyes; sometimes, they even turn _red_." Explained Ino in the same volume. Tenten briefly thought that Neji's eyes did something similar, though then the veins around his eyes bulged out, which was considerably creepier.

"They don't just turn red, they're laser beams!" Sakura's hearing, in her distress, seemed to have sharpened dramatically. "They'll kill me!"

"Sakura, just shut up and stop making a scene!" Ino was being pushed to a breaking point, making Tenten wary.

"No! Let me go back to the dorm." Despite the three other girls (or two girls, one boy to outsiders) hanging onto her, Sakura turned around and began to, quite determinedly, go in the opposite direction.

"Oh, be a woman, Sakura!" exploded Ino in frustration, "You made me lose way too much beauty sleep this past weekend with your incessant wailing! Unless you face yourself, I won't be getting any sleep! So shut up and accept that you did something stupid! I do all the time; and don't even _think_ about commenting, Toyo!" She added, glaring meaningfully at her friend.

"Sakura-chan, don't worry, come on." Hinata tried pulling on Sakura's arm, but the girl would not budge.

"I'm still not going." She sulked.

Hinata persisted. "But Sasuke-san is heading this way, you must—" Tenten suddenly found herself completely unbalanced and knocking heads with Ino as Sakura promptly pivoted and headed for the school, fast as lightening. 

Once her vision stopped spinning, Tenten looked around suspiciously for a dark-haired emo boy, and not finding any, turned an inquiring eye on Hinata. The girl blushed, before a slightly wicked smile made its way onto her face.

"Well, we were going to be late. And she needed motivation, anyway."

Tenten stared at her friend in disbelief before turning to Ino, an expression of utmost severity on her face. 

"Yamanaka Ino," she began, "How do you plead to being accused of being a _horrible _influence on the innocent Hinata?"

"Very, very guilty." Said the blonde smugly.

* * *

"How much alcohol consumption do you think a person has to have before they do or think something completely irrational?"

Tenten blinked. "I beg pardon?" she asked, confused. When she had walked into Ibiki's classroom and taken a seat in front of Neji, she half expected to be drilled about her 'cousin's' odd behavior on Saturday.

Instead, she got something completely random.

"I suppose it depends on the person, and how crazy they are ordinarily." She hypothesized uncertainly. "Why?"

"It seems that a few members of our own team are sadly susceptible even to well-diluted alcohol." Neji didn't even glance at her as he responded, copying the characters on the board into his notebook as he did so. "I wondered if you knew exactly how much liquor they can consume, diluted or otherwise."

"If you're talking about Sakura or Hinata, I honestly can't answer that. Ask them yourselves. Besides, you're the genius here."

Neji glanced at her, annoyed. "My cousin has nothing to do with this. However, Sakura _does_ have a good deal to do with this."

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently—I haven't found any concrete sources yet—while moderately under the influence, Sakura did something very foolish to Uchiha." Here he did glance at Tenten, while his pen continued to sketch out the characters perfectly onto his paper. "Do you have any knowledge of this? Because frankly, everyone else looked too drunk to notice if Kakashi had waltzed in dressed as a drag queen on Gai's arm." 

Tenten shuddered at the horrible mental image.

"Never use that analogy again, but you're right, as usual."

"So you know why Uchiha looks like a hunted dog?"

"Sakura would kill me if I told you."

"I doubt that. Now tell me."

"No, really, she'd kill me."

"I don't care, tell me." Tenten glared at him.

"You're awfully sensitive. Fine. But if I have to spend the rest of Shinobi season in the hospital, it's your fault."

"I got that. Tell me."

"You're as bad as Tenten. But anyway, apparently Sakura was so drunk that her repressed hormonal feelings for Sasuke exploded and she kissed him to relieve them." Tenten explained, improvising on the spot. 

Neji actually paused in his character practice to absorb the information before continuing.

"That's all?"

"Pretty much."

"Hmph. Just like the Uchiha to get so worked up over something so trivial." He snorted, shaking his head. "How ridiculous."

"What's so trivial about being involuntarily kissed?" asked Tenten, slightly incredulous. "Tenten wasn't exactly stoic about it after you planted—"

"Excuse me?" to her extreme amusement, Neji had suddenly gone from looking superior to almost cowed (or at least as close to cowed as a Hyuuga's facial muscles could get).

"Yeah, well, she gushed to Sakura and Ino all about it and they reported it to me," she went on, impressed with Neji's rapid color change, "And let me tell you, hearing exactly how silky she thought your hair was, or how soft she thought your mouth was—"

"_That's enough_," Neji looked unusually flushed, and Tenten couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or anger.

"Yeah, it's creepy stuff, huh? Almost as bad as Lee's attempts at waxing." Tenten turned around in her seat, looking for the bowl cut boy, "Where _is_ Lee, anyway?"

"He hasn't left the dorm. Like our less inhibitive peers, he overdosed on alcohol and hasn't yet recovered from his hangover."

"Ouch. Too bad for him, he'll be completely lost tomorrow when psycho Mister-Ibiki-the-Drill-Sergeant gets to him."

_Smack! _

Everyone in the room jumped when the ruler came crashing down on Tenten's desk. She took one look at Ibiki's face and gulped.

"Really, Katana? Considering how proficient Lee's Chinese is, he will probably struggle about as much as you will today. So tell me, what radicals make up the character for 'school'?"

"Uh…I don't know?"

The look on Ibiki's face made Tenten desperately wish she could eat her words.

* * *

Four periods later, Tenten sat down for lunch with the usual group. Along with Lee, Kiba and Sakura were also missing. 

"Where's Sakura-chan?" Asked Naruto as he set down his tray, "I've barely seen her all day." Tenten noted that Sasuke seemed to be his normal apathetic self, albeit stiffer than usual. He scarcely glanced at her, prompting Tenten to wonder if he had forgotten his suspicions.

She certainly hoped so.

"I dunno, maybe her headaches came back." Said Ino, shrugging. Naruto seemed to accept the explanation, but Tenten knew that if Ino really had no idea where Sakura was, she would be worried at least a little.

"But Sakura-chan gets that affected by alcohol?" Naruto looked a little skeptical, " I mean, I know Hinata-chan holds it better than most people," Hinata blanched and dropped her fork, "But I thought Sakura-chan was more like Tsunade baa-chaaan—yeOUCH!"

The blonde principal, who had been passing, bopped Naruto as hard as she could on the head, sending him into his curry rice.

"I'm _not_ old! That boy never learns…" she was heard muttering as she walked away. The group made sure she was well out of earshot before continuing their thread of conversation.

"So teme, whadda do this time to her?" Sasuke blatantly ignored his blond friend, much to his annoyance. Others at the table turned to different conversations, dropping the conversation thread of drunken friends all together.

"You sure Sakura's okay?" Tenten directed the question to Ino, who seemed determined to make it obvious to Shikamaru that she was giving him the cold shoulder. For his part, Shikamaru seemed completely oblivious.

"Forehead girl's fine. Don't worry, I checked up on her." She smiled at Tenten, "As soon as we get Sasuke to talk to her, she'll be fine. I guarantee it." The girls quickly peeked in the Uchiha's direction. He was blatantly ignoring Naruto's hounding and talking to Shino, seemingly unaware of the eyes on him.

"How will you accomplish that?" asked Tenten, leaning forward and lowering her voice so that the others wouldn't hear her.

Ino did the same. "It's called 'manipulation through best friend'. Works every time." Tenten let out a sigh of exasperation. 

"That didn't answer my question. What did you do?" Ino swallowed a mouthful of rice before answering.

"You'll see. Naruto's been asking about Sakura all day; Sasuke's going to snap pretty soon, and will be coerced into talking to her."

Tenten thought the concept extremely optimistic.

"Wait, I thought Naruto _liked_ Sakura. Why would he make Sasuke talk to her?"

Ino sighed impatiently. "You really need to listen to me more. He does like Sakura, but more importantly, he's friends with both of them, and even more importantly, he enjoys messing with people's love lives as much as I do."

Tenten blinked. "Really?"

"Yep, I didn't expect it either. But when one has an advantage, one must use it." Ino's expression went very smug as she finished her meal.

"Why don't you just go out with him then, instead of Mr. Pineapple over there? You two have a lot in common." The look the blonde bestowed on Tenten was completely deadpan.

"Tch, please." She snorted, "He's too stupid for my tastes. Pineapple-chan over there, while oblivious, is much more interesting to poke at. Besides, even I don't ask someone out who's _clearly_ already taken."

"Oh." Tenten began on the next problem she had spotted. "Well, Sasuke may be taken care of, but what about Sakura? Unless you lock them in a closet or something, how will you get _her_ to talk to_ him_?"

"Billboard Brow? I've already convinced her; don't worry about it. As far as she's concerned, she's doing this to provide a cover, and not 'cause she likes him." She let out an indulgent chuckle, "Which we all know she does. But really, she was much more reasonable in second period; I don't know why she isn't here right now. Probably at the library, tch." 

"The library's not so bad."

"It is if you're alone and some creep tries to hit on you! Let me tell you something…"

And so they moved on to more mundane conversation.

* * *

It was sixth period PE when Tenten saw Ino's plan take effect.

After the daily run, when Tenten sat down along with her other classmates to catch her breath, she noticed Sasuke get up and head towards the water fountains. This occurrence wouldn't have been exceptional, had not Sakura been there as well, nervously waiting for him.

No one else seemed to find this exceptional, except for Naruto, whose face resembled a Cheshire cat's, prompting Tenten to wonder exactly what other methods he had used to persuade Sasuke. She watched the two like a hawk, but couldn't discern whether the conversation was going well or not.

After only a few minutes of conversation, Sasuke and Sakura returned to the group. Surprisingly, neither Sakura nor Sasuke looked embarrassed, and Sasuke even looked a little pleased with himself. Whatever happened, Tenten could assume, had been beneficial to the relationship—friends or whatnot—that the two had. Once they reached the bleachers, they parted; Sakura went to sit with Ino and Hinata, Sasuke came to sit with Naruto, Neji, and Tenten. 

Naruto did not try to contain his curiosity. "Hey teme, what didja say to Sakura-chan, huh? Huh?"

"None of your business, dobe." With the same self-satisfied look on his face, Sasuke evaded Naruto's question.

Of course, Naruto was not put off easily, "Teme, you're smiling creepy. As your friend, it's my duty to protect others from not knowing the explanation of your creepy smile so that they don't drop dead from the unnaturalful-ness of it."

"Again, none of your business, dobe." Sasuke followed the statement up with a smack to the back of the blond head. "And I don't have a creepy smile," he added as an afterthought.

"OW!" Naruto doubled over, rubbing the bump on his head, "You better watch it, teme! When I get—"

"What were you doing at the Inuzuka's party, by the way?" Sasuke ignored Naruto and turned to Tenten, who was caught off guard by the question.

"Beg pardon?"

"You never explained how you ended up with make up all over your face." Sasuke pointed to his own for emphasis, looking at her expectantly. For some reason, Tenten felt like she was being cornered. 

Unable to remember the reason she had made up for the occasion, she licked her lips and opened her mouth, intending to answer with the first thing that came to mind. Neji, however, beat her to it.

"So you ended up getting ambushed by your fan girls after all, Toyo?" he asked, amused. "Amateur." 

Tenten gave him a deadpan look.

"Fan girls? What fan girls?" asked Naruto, looking from Neji to Tenten, while Sasuke also looked rather surprised.

"It seems that Toyo joined our ranks, Uchiha. The mentality of his fan girls seems to be the same as ours, unfortunately."

"Wait! You've been here for less than a semester, and already you have fan girls? Unfair!" Naruto looked ready to sulk, before a new thought struck him. "Or not. Teme has some pretty creepy ones." 

He snickered, dodged the upcoming fist, and muttering about cold homicidal bastards who couldn't take a joke, went looking for Shino to bother him.

"Well, that makes some sense. I could believe that." Despite his words, it was clear from his face that Sasuke didn't entirely believe her. Remembering Sakura's reasons, Tenten mentally cringed and vowed to make sure she wouldn't get in the same situation again. Not only was it stressful, but if Sasuke caught even a glimpse of her becoming Toyo or Tenten…well, it wouldn't be good news for her.

* * *

After PE, as usual, Tenten changed in the bathroom stall into her uniform, before exiting the locker rooms with Neji, who was generally the quickest to change.

"Just warm up and wait for everyone to come into the gym," Neji instructed, "Kakashi have something important that I need to say to all of them."

"Yes sir!" Tenten raised her hand in mock salute, and laughed, ignoring Neji's annoyed expression. 

Once everyone had gathered in the center of the gym, Gai and Kakashi called for attention, found themselves unable to be heard among the chatter, and was forced to resort to whistles to get the team to quiet down.

"Do I have everyone's attention?" asked Kakashi. A chorus of grumbles answered him as various Shinobi team members tried to stop the ringing in their ears. "Good. As your captain, I have an important announcement to make. Starting next week, we will be participating in the Intercity Shinobi Tournament—" A loud roar of approval exploded from the team. Again, Kakashi was forced to use the whistles to calm them down.

"Well, it's nice to see you all enthusiastic, for once," he continued dryly, "But before you are allowed to beat others to a bloody pulp, there will be a _formal_ lunch on Sunday that all teams are required to attend." He listened with what seemed to Tenten to be sadistic amusement at the groans and noises of disgust coming from the team.

"Yes, it will be formal." He repeated, "And I expect every single one of you to be on your best behavior. I was going to make you all have dates—" A chorus of _Ehh?s _from the slightly horrified team, "But I'll make it optional instead. Oh, and the lunch will take place at the Hokage hotel. Any questions?" Other than the resentful glowers, he didn't get a response. "All right then! We'll do sparring for today; we'll start the drills tomorrow."

The team broke off into squads. Tenten went to spar with Gai while Neji took on Lee (who had recovered) for a change.

"Toyo," Gai spoke in an undertone as they fought, quietly enough that Tenten had to strain to catch his words. "I'm not sure it would be a good idea to go to that event in your current state."

"Why not?" she asked, ducking a headshot and jabbing Gai in the left arm. He blocked the blow and sent her halfway across the room. She was forced to somersault while in the air in order to land on her feet.

"You were on the Suna team, am I right?" he asked when she came within earshot again.

"No—I mean, yeah…what of it?" Remembering her cover, she quickly rectified her mistake. She slammed into his side, sending Gai stumbling, though he quickly regained his balance.

"All teams are required to be there, you know. Especially the prominent ones, like Suna or Oto."

Realization hit her. "Oh. But I wanna go. Even if it is kind of cheesy, I don't want to miss anything."

"Nothing important is going to go on, it's just a ceremony." Gai insisted, unusually stubborn in refusing her pleas that nothing was wrong with going to the lunch in disguise. She saw his point, but still, danger or not, she wanted to go and see what sort of fuss and hassle Shinobi teams went through before the fun happened. 

After a few more minutes of sparring and arguing, she acquiesced to his suggestion. Pleased, Gai pushed no further, his unassuming personality around his students clearing away all suspicions that Tenten might try another way around him.

In a way, she wasn't _really_ ignoring Gai's warnings, Tenten thought to herself as they took a quick break from the exercise. She was just…exploiting loopholes, as it were.

"Hey Neji, do you think we could bring guests to this lunch thing?" she asked as he took a seat next to her on the newly repaired bleachers and took a swig from his water bottle.

"Certainly. My uncle and Hanabi will be coming, and some of the other families." He cast her a sideways glance, "Why?" 

She smiled at him. "I think Tenten will probably come in that case."

_Now Toyo, on the other hand, I don't think he'll be able to make it… _

A/N: This chapter took so long it's not funny. Well, for some reason it was a struggle to write, despite the fact that almost nothing happened! 

Bleh, well, up next is the lunch at the Hokage hotel, and I can't wait to write it. To those who've seen the luncheon scene in She's the Man could probably guess why, it's the best part of the movie, I think.

Review! I'd like to hear from the lurkers, please! Nothing much, just a quick opinion or something would do.


	13. Cat Fight!

The Hokage was one of the finer hotels in the Konoha District. It was the sort of place where wealthy private schools would hold their formals or very well-to-do young couples would book to get married in.

Tenten couldn't help but feel out of place as she entered the banquet room, accompanied by Sakura, Ino, and Temari. She took comfort in the fact that at least she wouldn't _look_ out of place: her new white dress (courtesy of Ino) was very nice, with a flared bell-shaped skirt, and oddly enough, buckles on the straps to adjust them. Though it was cool outside the hotel, inside the room it was nice and warm.

"Anyone see Hinata?" asked Sakura, scanning the crowd.

"No, I see Sand boys, Leaf boys, Sound boys…Not a trace of estrogen in the bunch." Tenten was faintly disturbed by the clinical look overs that Ino seemed to be giving a group of boys standing near them.

"I see her." Temari, who was taller than all the younger girls; spoke up, pointing at one of the large circular tables where the various Shinobi and their families were expected to sit. Tenten followed the direction of her pointed finger, stared, then laughed, wondering how she could have missed it.

The Hyuuga were not exactly a family with varied appearances. Hiashi and Hanabi shared the exact same eye, skin, and hair shades with Hinata and Neji, as well as a stony countenance. They were sitting together, a couple other chairs empty besides them.

She saw Neji look up from talking to Hiashi and start when his eyes fell on her. She couldn't help but smile, amused by his reaction.

"Tenten!" Tenten turned her attention to the left of Neji, where Hinata was beckoning for her to join them. She cupped her hands around her mouth to amplify the sound. "Come over here! There's a seating arrangement; you sit with us!"

Sakura groaned. "Of course they divide us. Could they make this lunch any more boring?"

"Be grateful that there's lots of eye candy, then." Ino grabbed Sakura and hauled her away, searching for a table that had their respective names on plates in front of seats. Temari followed after them, but not before giving Tenten a knowing smirk and a light shove in the Hyuuga's direction.

Tenten just rolled her eyes at her older friend.

* * *

"Where's Toyo?" asked Neji as soon as Tenten took her seat between him and Hinata. Like most other boys in the room, he wore a black turtleneck, black slacks, and a sports coat.

"He got sick; I think he ate some bad Gouda or something. So I told him since I was already on the guest list, I'd report back to him on how things went." She gave him a cheery smile, "Besides, I already had a dress ready. See?" she gestured at herself, grinning even wider at how Neji's eyes staunchly refused to leave her face. It didn't matter if she was Tenten or Toyo, teasing Neji was _fun_.

"Indeed," chimed in Hinata, much to Tenten's surprise. "Even the most tomboyish girls love to dress up. Even Hanabi-chan was glad to wear her dress."

"Not exactly." Like her cousin, Hanabi spoke completely deadpan, though her voice had a more petulant, childish quality to it. "Neji nii-san threatened to string me up by my toes if I didn't."

Hinata simply smiled and shook her head, and Tenten did the same. Her eyes then slid from Hanabi to her father and her smile abruptly froze.

Not only did Hiashi greatly resemble Neji, but he was also about ten times more intimidating. Tenten could practically feel herself shrinking as he appeared to examine her.

"Hello, Hiashi-san." She said, trying to alleviate her nerves by being polite.

"So you're the girl whom my daughter seems to have endless praises for, as well as my nephew."

"Excuse me?" Tenten was thrown off by the bluntness of his statement. Besides her, Neji looked like an ice statue that was beginning to melt.

"You heard me correctly, Tenten. That is your name, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir." Tenten tried to smile, but finding facial muscles refusing to cooperate, abruptly abandoned the attempt.

"Hm. Neji has told be quite a bit about you and your cousin, whom I had hoped to meet. Where is he?"

"He got a fever." Tenten explained a second time, mentally crossing her fingers. There was a sound of a chair scraping against the ground, and Tenten looked to her right only to find that Neji had abandoned her. Mentally screaming, she turned back to Hiashi, whose stern demeanor, to her relief, seemed to have lightened slightly.

"I see, too bad. Well, would you mind if I asked you a question?"

"Sure." Said Tenten, wondering why he asked that when it was obvious that she couldn't very well say 'no' to someone who was probably very high-ranked.

"Well, both my daughter and my nephew have informed me that you are very proficient in the Shinobi sport. Would you care to tell me about your experiences as a captain?"

"Yeah," confirmed Tenten, relieved at how the subject was something she was comfortable with.

The rest of their conversation continued in that vein, though Tenten kept feeling as though she was being evaluated. It wasn't until Neji returned from wherever he had been that Hiashi took his leave of her, going off to talk to a man standing next to the recently-arrived Sasuke and Itachi, looking very much like he had been dragged there.

"Did Hiashi interrogate you?" asked Neji, woodenly as ever. Tenten glared at him and kicked him lightly in the shin.

"Like hell he did! And you didn't even stay around to protect me!" she accused, more to channel out remaining jitters than to show actual indignance. Neji remained mostly unmoved, though his countenance suggested that he was at least a little sheepish.

"Hn."

Tenten let out an exaggerated sigh. "I guess I shouldn't expect much more from you, huh?"

"No you shouldn't." Agreed a deep, somewhat familiar male voice.

Both Tenten and Neji started and turned around to face the one who had spoken up behind them. A young man, with red hair, green eyes, black rings around the eyes, and a red tattoo on his forehead stood behind them. His hands were shoved in his pockets and his face expressed supreme boredom.

"Gaara!"

"Yes, that is my name. How have you been, Tenten? I haven't seen you much at school." As always, he spoke in monotone, his eyes completely blank.

"Ah, very well, thank you." Apprehension curled her stomach, and Tenten prayed that Gaara wouldn't mention exactly _why_ they hadn't seen each other in so long.

Gaara shifted his eyes from Tenten's slightly pale face to Neji's, and offered the older boy a curt nod in greeting before refocusing on Tenten.

"Well, that's good. I've been wondering. Have you met Matsuri, by any chance?"

Tenten blinked. "Who?"

"Okay, you haven't." He turned around and gestured at a brown-haired girl standing uncertainly only a few feet away to come closer, and hesitantly, she obeyed. "This is Matsuri. Matsuri, this is Tenten."

"Hello," she said, smiling at Tenten, who smiled back.

"Nice to meet you, Matsuri-chan. I don't think I've ever seen you around Suna before. What grade are you in?"

"She's a sophomore." Gaara said, one hand on her shoulder. Tenten eyed it with amusement.

"Really? Wow, Gaara, I didn't know you liked younger girls." She teased. Matsuri blushed, but Gaara was unmoved.

"Going out with you made me swear off older women." Tenten tried to grab the front of Gaara's shirt, but he stepped back to avoid her hand and walked away. "Nice seeing you." He called over his shoulder.

"You dated him?" Neji sounded almost incredulous.

"For six weeks; not a moment longer."

"Did it end well?"

"Not really."

"What happened?" Tenten marveled at the way Neji was able to be demanding while sounding as if he didn't care one bit.

"Oh, Neji, you aren't _jealous_, are you?"

He didn't answer, only glared at her, his temple throbbing. She just laughed and poked him with one of his forks.

"Cheer up, Neji. Considering how many girls go after you everyday, you'd think I'd be the jealous one in this relationship! Neji? Are you listening?"

"He's a prude, Tenten." Hanabi supplied helpfully, "He hates talking about any kind of romantic connection." She snickered. "Wait till you guys start changing bases!"

Tenten had to fight down the blush, but couldn't help but appreciate Hanabi's barbs.

"When did you guys ever reach first base?" drawled a very familiar voice, from right behind her. Tenten twisted around to look up into Kankuro's face, covered in face paint and grinning leisurely

"Kankuro!"

"Glad you're happy to see me, considering that I have been deviously removed from my beloved brother and forced to sit with you." He sat down on Neji's other side, leering. "So, Neji-san. I've heard a lot about you from Tenten. Nice to meet you in person."

He stuck out his hand expectantly; Neji looked at it as though it was diseased.

"You're Gaara's older brother, aren't you?" Was all he managed to say.

"Yup. And I'm Tenten's unofficial brother, too. So as the big brother, it's my job to interrogate you."

"_Kankuro_." Tenten wondered if she should have told Kankuro about her and Neji after all; it was starting to seem like it had been a bad idea.

"What is it, Tenten?" he asked, feigning innocence, "I thought you said that you thought Neji looked 'hot' when he was being teased or flustered; so I figured that since he must look the opposite otherwise, I ought to help him so he can hold on to you."

"KANKURO!"

* * *

Despite the earlier setback, Tenten was eventually able to relax. At least until she caught, out of the corner of her eye, Sakura getting up from the table she had been occupying and headed out of the room into the lobby to, presumably, look for the bathroom.

Normally, she would have simply returned to her lunch, had not she had also seen Karin head for the same destination only a few minutes beforehand.

She excused herself from the table, and walking as quickly as she could without looking like an idiot, exited the dining room. Looking around the lobby, she found her destination the second door down from the dining room.

For a bathroom, it was remarkably ornate; more like a high class spa than anything else. The tiles were a faint, tasteful pink, the floor was clean, and there seemed to be what looked like a small chandelier hanging from the ceiling. A couple of giant vases filled with enormous tropical flowers added color to the room.

Tenten located Sakura by the mirrors, touching up her make-up. Relieved that she probably arrived early enough to divert a disaster, Tenten figured she might as well do the same. Sakura wordlessly handed her some clear lip gloss and began to speak to her absentmindedly.

"Have you seen Sasuke-kun's mother?" she asked as she checked her reflection in the mirror, fluffing her hair and adjusting the short mint green jacket she wore over the strapless, matching dress. Tenten nodded, too busy reapplying the gloss to really say anything.

"She's really pretty, and so nice. You really wouldn't be able to tell they were related if they didn't look so alike. It's really funny, actually, I was just watching, but Sasuke-kun seemed to be a real mama's boy. Itachi too, but it isn't as obvious. But that's probably because Hana has a really tight leash on him, I mean really it's just so…"

Tenten tuned out most of her ranting, though making sure to nod at appropriate intervals, patiently waiting until Sakura paused for breath to speak.

"That's nice. But since when do you call Sasuke, Sasuke-kun?" she asked innocently. Predictably, Sakura blushed, but surprisingly, she answered the inquiry.

"Since I accepted that I still like him." She became very interested in her handbag, as though if she checked, she could find her words in there.

"Accepted?"

She shrugged. "I just accepted that I haven't been eating bad food every day I'm around him, so my stomach couldn't have been flip-flopping from _that_. Lingering feelings for Sasuke were the next best guess."

"Interesting process of reasoning." Remarked Tenten dryly. She turned so as to properly face Sakura. "Now what are you going to do about it?"

"Frankly, I'm not sure." Sakura raked a hand through her hair. "But I've been thinking about asking him to come with me to Ichiraku's."

"Are you going to go through with it?"

"Do you think I should?" Sakura asked, hopeful, but slightly afraid.

"I don't see why not. It's not like you have anything to hide," she shot Sakura a quick glance. "Do you?"

Sakura laughed, "Nah, I'm too open, so even if I have a personal secret, I would never be able to keep it. I'm better with other people's secrets."

"Hm. Well, I don't know about that, but you're lucky. I think Sasuke likes you back…but I'm not sure. I just have a hunch."

Sakura smiled, "Ino told me the same thing…in more specific terms, of course. Thanks, it's always nice to get a second opinion. Now, he'll just have to accept any invitation I give him." She tilted her head thoughtfully, "Do you think I should ask him, or just do something silly to get him out with me?"

"Try the hammer method."

"What's that?"

"Simple, it can be worked in two different ways. The first one, you use a giant hammer and knock him out, then drag him on a date."

"I got that impression. What's the second way?"

"Wear stilettos and a gorgeous dress. Then drag him away while he's too dazed to think straight."

"Sounds effective."

"It is. For even better results you combine the methods and hit him on the head with one of the stilettos." Sakura burst out laughing, and Tenten couldn't help but join in.

Their laughter was abruptly cut short by the sound of one of the stall doors slamming open. The two girls turned to find Karin emerging from the stall, sneering at Sakura.

"Well, we seem to be over optimistic, aren't we?" She barely glanced at Tenten, keeping her eyes focused on Sakura.

"Whatever would make you think something like that?" asked Sakura, a sickening sweetness tingeing her words.

"It's simple, really." Karin crossed her arms, "If Sasuke could resist a woman who looks like me, what makes you think he won't resist someone who looks like _you_?"

Tenten noted with some panic that Sakura's fist was minutely trembling, and quickly butted in, praying that she could avert a potential disaster. "I'm sorry, but it's none of your business." She said in what she hoped was a civil tone to Karin, "And that was just uncalled for."

Karin opened her mouth, probably to make some scathing comment, but Sakura beat her to it.

"Tenten, don't worry about it." She smiled with the same sort of sickly sweetness from her words, and turned back to Karin, "First of all, Sasuke-kun can resist anything. It's in his nature. Second, even though he looks like some dreamy Byronic hero, doesn't mean he's looking for some fussy little Ingénue to call his own. Third, Sasuke-kun told me all about you, and let me tell you something, if it was your personality that kept him away from you, he'll stay away from you."

"And how would you know so much about that?"

"First hand experience, Karin _darling_." She tilted up her chin, and cast the redhead an arrogant, condescending look. "Now ordinarily, I would suggest an attitude adjustment, but somehow I don't think that Sasuke-kun would go for you even if you became the next girl-next-door. He's not into stalkers or bitches. And it seems that you're both."

Karin gave a short, harsh laugh before lunging at Sakura. Sakura quickly fought back, sending Karin into the opposite wall.

Tenten could only watch in horror as all hell broke loose.

* * *

"Do you hear something?" Ino asked Chouji, cursing her luck that also placed her across from Shikamaru, though relieved that she wasn't sitting anywhere near Kin or Zaku.

"No," he replied, pausing in his attack of his food, "Why?"

"I just keep hearing this _thumping_ noise." She glared suspiciously at the contents of her plate, "Of course, this cream sauce might have something to do with it."

"Maybe," Chouji returned to his food, "Or you could just be hearing something." He added.

A muffled crash and shrieks quickly proved them right.

"What was that?"

"It sounded like a cat fight." Ino frowned, glancing around the room.

"Huh, they allow cats here?" Chouji raised his eyebrows in disbelief, "No wonder they wouldn't let Kiba bring Akamaru; he would have caused quite an upset."

Ino had to fight the urge to roll her eyes and returned to her food, nevertheless keeping one ear open for more sounds of fighting. If it got any worse, she would go over there herself and set things straight.

* * *

_You are an idiot. A complete, total idiot. So idiotic that you make Naruto seem like a genius!_

The reason for Tenten's current mental self-degradation was simple, and based on three factors.

First, she had not prevented the fight, even though she had followed with that explicit notion in her mind.

Second, she had tried to help Sakura when Karin had knocked her over, and had ended up being grabbed and shoved away from her friend. In the process, Tenten had accidently knocked over one of the large vases. It didn't break, but the loud noise it made on impact with the tiled floor was more than enough punishment.

Third, she prayed like mad that no one would come to investigate.

"Karin, stop!" she yelled, trying to pull the redhead away from Sakura.

When her efforts were proven to be futile, she resorted to a second tactic. Despite some difficulty with her pumps, Tenten managed to effectively jump on Karin's back and grab a handful of red hair, close to the roots, and pulled. Hard.

It produced the desired effect, with Karin staggering away from Sakura, but also made Tenten realize exactly how precarious her position was. If Karin fell over, without a doubt, unless she fell on her face, Tenten would end up taking most of the impact.

Fortunately, Karin managed to regain her balance. Unfortunately for Tenten, she had the sense to try to get the girl off her back by backing into the wall. Tenten hit her head and unwittingly let go, sliding to the ground, clutching her head painfully.

Sakura tried to get away from the redhead, but Karin grabbed Sakura's hair and yanked it back painfully. Sakura screamed and lost her footing, landing on her backside painfully.

Deciding that there were better uses for her pumps, Tenten yanked off one and threw it like a boomerang, hitting Karin square in the back.

It didn't stop her, however, and she managed to grab a hold of Sakura's foot as the girl tried to scramble to her feet, only to come crashing back down.

"Okay, we've been hearing you guys from the dining room, so what is going—SAKURA!"

The three girls paused in their struggle and turned towards the door Frozen in the doorway was a shocked Ino, mouth half open.

However, she quickly regained her composure and stormed in, fully intent on helping.

Unfortunately, Ino hadn't been the only one to hear the commotion. Close on her heels were Tayuya and Kin, apparently determined to give Karin a helping hand. Or at least in Kin's case, have a second round with Ino after their last fight.

Though relatively roomy, with the addition of three other girls to the fight, the bathroom seemed to become very crowded as the girls shrieked, pulled hair, and hurled insults at one another. They crashed into things, stepped on feet with heeled shoes, and just caused general, painful damage.

"WHAT THE _HELL_ IS GOING ON IN HERE?!"

The girls froze, turning with dread to look over towards the entrance. From her position on the floor (she had tripped on her one heel) Tenten could see a furious-looking Tsunade, while behind her was most of the male members of the Shinobi teams looking both excited and scared, as well as a shocked Hinata visibly restraining Hanabi.

"What are you louts doing here? Scram!" the principal snapped at the boys, sending them scurrying back into the safety of the dining room. Hinata remained, and followed Tsunade into the restroom to face the six girls.

"All of you, come with me." Her voice was icy, and Tenten wasn't surprised to find the normally stubborn girls simply dust themselves off and follow meekly behind her.

* * *

They were brought into what looked like an unused conference room, with a plain wooden table with swivel chairs lining each side.

"Sit down."

Again they obeyed without a word, though there was an exchange of glowers as the Oto and Konoha Kunoichi sorted themselves out onto their respective sides.

Tsunade remained standing, arms crossed.

"That is no way to behave at this sort of gathering," she began flatly, "All of you really ought to know; a professional attitude needs to be taken at all times. This sort of fighting makes your respective teams look bad; like they don't know good sportsmanship."

Tenten could practically feel herself shrinking as each clipped word left Tsunade's lips, and from the corners of her eyes see similar effects on the other girls. It surprised her, considering that Tsunade was Konoha's principal, not Oto's. But then she reminded herself of Tsunade's reputation as a former kunoichi. That was why they listened with respect.

"Now, your particular situation is even more precarious, because remember, your place on the team could be in jeopardy—"

"_What!_"

"I'm not saying your spots are _definitely_ in jeopardy," she explained hastily, holding both hands up, "But I'm warning you girls. A lot of people don't like having Kunoichi on the team, and if any of you act in a way that suggests you could harm the team's reputation, chance of winning—whatever, and people might decide that girls shouldn't be able to try out for Shinobi teams, period. Do you understand me?"

"But that's not fair!" Snapped Sakura, furious.

Tsunade sighed, "I know it isn't." She said gently, "But it's a fact. Let's just keep it from becoming a barrier, all right?"

There was ragged chorus of mumbled agreement.

"Good. Now come on, girls, let's go back to your lunch." She turned on her heel and stalked out of the room; after a moment's pause the girls filed out in two lines, determinedly not looking at one another.

* * *

Other than a few stares at their bruising and slight limping as they entered the room, no one commented on the fight and the various conversations resumed as normal.

Despite Neji's and Kankuro's attempts to draw her into conversation, Tenten remained quiet, moodily picking at her half-eaten food.

The more she thought about it, now, the more certain she was that she was doing wasn't entirely absurd. If what Tsunade had said was true, then there was a good chance that girls, at least in the city, would be pushed out of Ninjutsu.

That couldn't happen. It was one thing if there were more girls who were disinterested in Ninjutsu that interested—at least the interested ones could go at least into Genin. But if girls weren't allowed to go in the games _period_, then that was truly unfair.

She was so caught up in the monologue composing in her head that she missed the stuffy speech the Head of Ninjutsu gave to the teams when their food had been eaten, full of empty phrases and warnings to not pick personal fights that had been quickly improvised, much to all the Kunoichi's annoyance.

A soft tap to the shoulder alerted her to Hinata. She turned enquiring towards the younger girl.

"Tenten-chan, Hanabi-chan and I are thinking about going out for some ice cream. Would you like to come?"

Tenten grinned. If there was anyone more empathetic than Hinata, it would have to be a supernatural being.

"Sure, but let me tell Temari first. She's the one who drove me here."

"Eh, just go. I'll tell her." Kankuro, sprawling in his chair, gave her a lazy grin.

Tenten fixed him with a deadpan stare. "You mean the way you told her about me going to a male strip club when I specifically told you I was going shopping?"

"Hey, you gotta admit, the male models weren't exactly wearing much—"

"Eh, I'm leaving. Kankuro, that message better get to her in one piece or tomorrow morning, _you'll_ be in pieces."

"Love you too, sweetheart."

"Bye Neji-kun. See you as soon as I can!"

"Hn." He gave her a dismissing sort of nod and Tenten just laughed before leaving with the Hyuuga sisters.

* * *

_Later…_

"You seem to be in a good mood, Uchiha."

Sasuke simply smirked and said nothing, continuing to neatly annotate the poem as homework. The two prodigies were in the library, doing their work and occasionally talking to one another. It was a tradition of sorts; trying to work in their dorms when they had roommates like Naruto and Lee simply didn't work.

"Did something happen?"

"You could say that."

"What? Did you finally get the guts to ask Sakura out?"

The pencil that narrowly missed his eyeball was a definite 'yes'.

"Ah, congratulations. You finally came to your senses."

"Not quite."

"So you didn't ask her out?"

"No, it was more of a mutual agreement."

"So she was the man and asked you out."

A second pencil projectile.

"I see. Wimp."

"At least I'm not blind." Sasuke returned, "Letting myself be fooled by others."

Neji scowled, "What are you talking about?"

"You know perfectly well." When Neji continued to look blank, Sasuke snorted and elaborated. "Katana."

"So? He's weird, but Lee's worse. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing's wrong with being weird but—have you really not noticed?"

"Noticed _what_?" Neji had a nagging suspicion as to what Sasuke was talking about, but didn't voice it.

"Don't act stupid. Katana and your new girlfriend—I know they say they're cousins, but they seem a little too, _close_, if you understand me."

"I don't think I do." Neji's voice was like ice.

"I'm not implying incest, but I've been noticing things. Katana fights like a Kunoichi, or at least he did at the beginning of the year. Your Tenten was a Kunoichi. They look too similar to be cousins—if anything, I would think they were twins. But they're not" Neji checked around them for listening ears. Thankfully, their part of the library was deserted.

"You're not making sense, Uchiha. It sounds like you're saying that Toyo and Tenten are the same person."

"It sounds ridiculous, but from what I've seen…just think about it."

Sasuke closed his binder with a snap and shoved his things into his backpack. He turned to leave. As he walked away, he called over his shoulder:

"For cousins who say they are so close; have you ever seen them in the same room together?"

For a long time, Neji just sat where he was, considering the pieces that Sasuke had presented him with in the puzzle of Toyo, wanting to reject them despite their nearly perfect fit.

* * *

A/N: Whew! That one was fun to write. Hopefully no one found anything too over the top in this chapter, even though I sort of stretched the envelope.

Review!


	14. Evasion

A/N: Hello my lovelies

**A/N:** Um, hi.

I owe everyone who's been following this story an apology for the extremely late chapter. I would love to blame writer's block and finals, but I was also lazy and paying more attention to new projects. Don't worry: this will be finished!

First off, I want to thank you all for the lovely reviews, which is something I have been neglecting.

Second, this story will probably wrap up in the next chapter or next two chapters, depending on what I feel like. I don't want to stretch anything out, and I have the ending distinctly in mind. If it feels like a rip-off, I'm really sorry, but that's the way I can write it without getting constantly stuck for ideas.

Now on to the chapter!

* * *

Using her last bit of energy, Tenten managed to deck her opponent across the face, effectively knocking him down and out of the running.

"The winner of this match is Katana." Intoned the referee, "Konoha wins." The loud cheers coming from the stands were especially pleasing to Tenten's ears. It had been a little annoying, being the last person to fight and knowing however your fight came out, it wouldn't make much of a difference. However, it seemed that the Konoha supporters didn't mind, and preferred the ability to prove their superiority again, and again, and again.

That wasn't to implicate, however, that the game had been an easy one. Whirlpool's Shinobi were surprisingly tough, and the fact that a few of the other boys on Konoha had to go twice didn't make it any easier. Since there were no girls on the team, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata were automatically considered out of running, much to their annoyance. There had been a couple of losses as a result of that decision, as some of the boys suffered bruising and other mild injuries that distracted them from just going in and fighting.

"Excellent job Toyo! Your youth was practically emanating from your body in shining green light!" trumpeted Lee as she made her way, slightly unsteady, to the bleachers. Whoever her opponent had been, even if he had the defensive reflexes of a dead cat, he knew how to keep his opponent confused, judging from the way her vision was spinning. She touched her forehead gingerly, wondering if she would have a nice lump for her efforts.

"Uh huh, sure Lee." Tenten opened her water bottle and drank greedily, emptying it of half of its contents.

"No, really! The glow—"

"Lee, you'd see a glow if you just went out under a streetlight or something, it's not a big deal." Ino came up and clapped Tenten cheerfully on the back. "Nice work, Katana!"

"Thanks, Ino." Tenten glared at the blonde as she massaged her now-sore shoulder.

"You're welcome." Said the blonde, purposefully oblivious.

Shaking her head in amusement, Tenten turned to put the bottle back in her bag, only to find Neji directly behind her.

"Hey Captain!" She mock-saluted. "How'd I do?"

Neji simply stared at her, before narrowing his eyes and walking away without saying anything.

"Yeesh, how big is that stick?" Asked Kiba humorously from besides Tenten. "Neji's been twice as anal as usual these past few days. You know why?"

Tenten shook her head. "Can't think of anything."

* * *

_"Hello, Suna High School, how may I help you?"_

_"Hello, I am looking for information about a former student of yours, transferred to Konoha Academy last year. Name's Katana Toyo. Can you help me?"_

* * *

"So you ended up using the Hammer method after all?" asked Tenten in complete amusement, holding the phone between her shoulder and cheek as she worked in the kitchen, frying rice for a quick lunch. It was the Sunday after their match, and much to Tenten's relief, she had yet to experience any swelling, though she suspected that the hit might have taken out an IQ point or two.

"Yep," Sakura's voice emanated out from the speaker, "Only the second variation, though. I got too freaked out to actually bring the hammer with me. Besides, the dress worked just fine."

"I'm glad. Hang on a sec." She piled her food into a bowl and set the pan aside, then picked up the container and carried it over to her couch, snagging a pair of chopsticks along the way. She settled herself before returning to her friend. "Now spill. I have been locked up all day with little to no contact with the outside world. So I'm currently in danger of going into an Inoish state."

"Please don't," said Sakura, sounding very amused. "The reason I called you was to have _relief_ from squealing with Ino; kind of like my very own mini-therapy session."

"Please don't; I had a date with Neji last night. Lots of the sharing of the feelings and other silly things. I'd really rather not play the therapist again."

"I'll bet." Sakura was silent for a moment. Then, almost hesitantly, she asked: "How was he?"

"Neji? Normal, well, as normal as Neji will ever be. Why?"

"While we were on our date, Sasuke-kun…he asked a couple questions about you." Tenten frowned faintly, a slight prickling on her skin telling her that _this wasn't good._

"What about me? Do you mean about Toyo?"

She could practically _hear_ Sakura roll her eyes. "Duh. Who else would it be?"

"Having two identities _is_ confusing, you know. Anyway, what kind of questions?"

"Just normal stuff, mostly. How I know you, why two cousins so close hardly ever hang out, etcetera, etcetera." She snorted, "Most of them where almost pathetically easy to fend off, but my god, Sasuke-kun was _persistent_. Almost like he was digging for something."

Tenten swallowed, suddenly not hungry. "Do you think he knows?" she asked, feeling her stomach twist in sudden fear.

"…I really don't know. Sasuke-kun's not stupid, but I don't think he would openly admit to believing that he believed that you were crossdressing or Toyo was crossdressing or a transvestite or _whatever_." She laughed. "You have to admit that this whole situation is kind of ridiculous. I mean really, who would believe this? It's too sitcom-esque for _anyone_ to take it seriously."

Tenten was unconvinced. "What about Neji?"

"What about him?"

"Aren't they close? What if he tells him? Sasuke's more creditable than Lee or Naruto or pretty much anyone else." Tenten was beginning to panic, horrible possibilities flashing through her head.

"Tenten, calm down." Said Sakura in her no-nonsense voice. "Unless Sasuke-kun has a picture of you changing into Toyo or something—and his pride won't let him stalk you, don't worry about that—he probably won't do anything. Trust me. I stalked him for two years; I know what I'm talking about."

Tenten was not persuaded. "I'm still not sure…"

_Knock, knock_

Tenten mentally groaned at the visitor's bad timing.

"Sakura, I have a visitor. I gotta go. But one last question: did you and Sasuke _go_ very far?" Even worries of an identity crisis didn't dissuade Tenten's need to tease Sakura about her date, oddly enough.

There was a loud snort on the other end. "Are you kidding? Sasuke-kun is a complete prune. He's worse than Neji. No, I only got a kiss on the cheek." Judging from her tone, Tenten gouged that Sakura wasn't exactly unhappy about the development.

"I think you mean 'prude', Sakura."

"No—he's a prune. Or a plum, since he's not wrinkly and prunes are just dried up plums. Actually, when you start _really_ thinking about it, he's a pineapple—prickly on the outside, but sweet and acidic on the inside."

Tenten laughed, feeling much more normal. "I think Shikamaru's the pineapple, at least appearance-wise. I'll leave you to your ponderings of fruits. Whoever's at the door is getting really impatient." Indeed, the knocker was persistent and it was starting to get on Tenten's nerves.

"All right, all right. I'll go bother Hinata now. Remember: don't stress!"

"Bye Sakura." She hung up. Still chuckling over the girl's bizarre analogy, she went and answered her door.

Hyuuga Neji was standing outside her door.

"Neji! What are you doing there?" Acutely aware that sweats and a tank top were not the most flattering clothes to be wearing, even if they were the most comfortable, she fidgeted a little.

"Just visiting. Can I come in?" Other than a raised eyebrow, he did not comment on her apparel, for which she was grateful.

"Sure." She stepped aside, and he entered, looking curiously around her (to her growing horror, _very_) disorganized apartment.

"Have a seat. Do you want any tea?" She offered, hastily scooping up her empty bowl from its current resting place and making a beeline to dump it in the dishwasher.

"No, thank you." Had she not been somewhat embarrassed, Tenten would have been amused by Neji's air of walking on eggshells. Clearly, he had never been inside a girl's home before.

Grabbing the sweater folded carelessly over the back of her chair, Tenten quickly pulled it on, almost immediately feeling less exposed and more relaxed.

"So, what's up?" She asked, plopping down on the couch besides Neji, leaning against him with arms folded.

"Not much. Have you seen your cousin today?" One his hands absent-mindedly rested itself atop her head.

"Nah, he's usually with his Suna friends on the weekends, so we're alone." Tenten said airily, while inwardly her stomach began to do audible flip-flops in worry. It was stupid that Sakura's observations were making her nervous, but she couldn't help it.

"Really?" Neji's voice sounded light, disinterested. Tenten despaired that his thoughts _weren't_.

"Yeah, our apartment is basically a place he goes to change his clothes; Toyo is almost never here." She was bluffing, and bluffing _badly_. Tenten comforted herself with the fact that, if Neji demanded proof of his residency, she could simply point out the many men's clothing articles she owned, thanks to her friends, as well as the extra bedroll she kept in her closet.

"How odd." Those words weren't said with the minor incredulity that suggested he really was surprised, but said as though her words merely confirmed something. Tenten's stomach flip flops increased and she decided impulsively that it would be a good time to…distract Neji from whatever his current train of thought was.

"Yeah, it is odd." She turned to face Neji, lowering her eyelashes and praying that she wouldn't ruin the image by laughing. "But it does mean that we get to…hang out."

Neji eyed her warily. "What do you mean?"

"You know…_hang out_."

He looked _really_ nervous. "Yes, but what do you mean?"

Tenten exhaled loudly and placed her hands on her hips. "You know, watching movies, talking—God, what did you think I was talking about?"

Neji relaxed. "Nothing." Previous experience told Tenten she wouldn't get anymore reaction from him, so she let it be.

"Good." She kissed him on the cheek. "Of course, if you change your mind, we can always do what you want to do—within limits."

He turned slightly red. It was very amusing.

He gave her a strange, indulgent look. "Were you by any chance experimenting with drugs before I came here? You are acting very strange."

"No drugs, just chocolate."

"That's a drug."

"No, it isn't, chocolate can't kill you."

"Oh really…"

The afternoon quickly raced by, as Tenten and Neji talked, made fun of each other, and of course, kissed. Despite wanting just to enjoy herself, Tenten made completely sure that whatever Neji's purpose in coming or whatever suspicions he may have had were largely forgotten by the time he took his leave of her.

She watched from the railing, waiting until Neji's car had disappeared from her viewpoint, before running back into her apartment and grabbing the phone. Tenten gave an impatient growl at the ringtone, tapping her foot.

The second Sakura answered, Tenten wasted no time. "Call Ino and Hinata, if you can. You're right; he's on to me."

* * *

"…_and judging from our records, just a good role model of a boy; I've never once seen him in this office. Was this any help to you, sir?"_

"_Not especially, but thank you for your troubles. Good-bye."_

* * *

For the most part, school was proceeding as normal. However, Tenten's heightened paranoia made it more difficult for her to mingle as freely as she had before. Whenever Neji was around, she had to act like she was perfectly unaware of his suspicion and make sure she acted as convincingly as a guy as possible, and when he wasn't around it was even more nerve-racking.

"Toyo-kun, calm down." Hinata removed the bento from Tenten's shaking hands and placed it on the ground in front of her. She and the other girls were all sitting in the middle of the vast grounds, on a blanket atop the grass one fine afternoon after school. There was almost no one in sight, and Shinobi practice had been canceled due to the overzealous animals' rights club releasing bugs, slugs, amphibians, and reptiles into the gym, and Tsunade demanding that all teachers help catch these creatures. While the other Shinobi had gone back to their dorms, the girls had chosen to have a picnic on the open grounds.

"Yeah, what are you so worried about?" Asked Ino, thoroughly enjoying her bento.

Sakura made a face. "Close your mouth when you chew, pig. You're spewing everywhere."

"Well, _sorry_, Miss Prim-and-Proper." Snapped Ino, nevertheless acquiescing. "But seriously, Toyo, what's going on? Neji's not here; he can't be watching your every move unless his eyeballs can come out of his head and float around the school, which is just _gross_—"

"I didn't need that, Ino." Tenten massaged her temple, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. "I _really_ didn't need to hear that."

The blonde sighed. "Really, you shouldn't worry so much. This whole situation is absurd enough that no one sane would believe it off the bat. And while Neji _is_ insane, he is _so_ insane that it is possible that he might as well be extremely sane, so there's no reason to worry!" Tenten treated the blonde to her best deadpan stare.

"Ino—that makes no sense."

"Yeah it does, if you just think about it."

"But I don't want to think about it! I WANT—" She looked around and quickly lowered her voice, despite there being no way that anyone would be able to overhear them. "I want to stop doing this."

"Why?" Asked Ino, with Sakura and Hinata looking on curiously.

"I'm finally beginning to figure out what the consequences will be for doing this, and they are not pretty."

"If by 'consequences', you mean Neji, just say so." Said Sakura practically.

"Sh!" Tenten looked around in alarm, despite the fact that no one else was within hearing distance.

"So you do mean him."

Tenten sighed and hung her head. "Yeah, fine. I mean him. I really don't know how he's going to react when he finds out. I mean, finding out that someone isn't who you thought they were won't bode well, considering…"

"…That the person is your girlfriend, it _really_ won't bode well." Finished Sakura. "I see your point. But really, there's nothing you _can_ do at this point." Tenten drooped even lower, if that was possible, than she had before.

"I want to finish this," she grumbled. "Don't get me wrong, I'm _not_ going to quit—but I really don't know what's going to happen and I'm actually worried about how Neji—or everyone else for that matter—are going to react."

"Probably better than if it turned out Toyo was Tenten, instead of the other way around." Ino pointed out with her illogical logic. "Of course," she added thoughtfully. "Neji probably wouldn't care either way, considering…" She trailed off with a suggestive wink. Tenten joined in with Sakura and Hinata's squeals of laughter, holding her sides to prevent them from physically splitting.

"Touché, Ino, touché." Tenten wiped the pinpricks of tears from her eyes. "Not entirely sure if the idea that my boyfriend is bisexual or gay should make me feel better or not, though…"

"It should," Ino replied with absolute conviction. "After all, you've led him on so far. If he turns out to prefer his, ah, own kind better, you can always just change back and screw—AH!" Ino screamed as Tenten flung sticky rice at her face and it made impact. She retaliated with a meatball, which hit Sakura to whom Hinata came to the defense of…

And in this way what had been a _serious_ conversation dissolved into a food fight.

* * *

A few days later, Tenten found herself in an uncomfortable position in the park.

Literally.

"Hinata-chan, why are we hiding?"

"Because Ino-chan, Kiba-kun, and Shino-kun are talking about you, and I don't think they would want to see you." She whispered, crouching in the bushes.

"Then why aren't we doing something, oh, I don't know, _productive_?! I'm dying down here!" Indeed, Tenten was flat on her stomach under the bushes, and being poked viciously by resentful branches was _not_ putting her in the best mood.

"At least you're not wearing a skirt!" Hissed Sakura from somewhere above Tenten. "Now shut up—I can't hear a thing of what that stupid pig is saying."

Tenten merely sighed in exasperation, but strained to listen to the conversation going on somewhere outside their hiding place.

"—so what exactly do you want to know about Toyo, anyway?" Asked Ino, sounding like she had much better things to do and was doing Shino a favor by humoring him.

"…I don't want to know anything about him." Shino also sounded bored. Not that he ever sounded any different.

"That's not true!" Came Kiba's cheerful voice. "We just wanted to ask you something, 'cause the guy's been acting weird for a while."

Tenten grimaced, nervous. This didn't sound good.

"Weird?" Ino still managed to sound disinterested. "What would make you say that?"

"Well…just weird. Like there's something going on at home or something he isn't telling us about."

"Well, he has been struggling for a little while." Ino admitted.

("What is she doing?!" Hissed Tenten, who would've liked to jump out of the bushes and strangle Ino, were it not for the two girls sitting quite determinedly on top of her.

"Shut up and just listen!" Sakura shot back. Hinata simply let out a long suffering sigh.)

"With what?" In Tenten's opinion, Kiba sounded just a little too eager.

"…" Shino didn't need to say anything.

"Personally, I think he should have told everyone a long time ago." Said Ino airily.

("SHE'S DEAD! THAT EVIL WITCH IS DEAD—"

"Shut _up_!!")

"Told us…what?"

"That he's…"

(Tenten moaned in despair, wondering why she had ever trusted Ino with her secret.)

"…straight. Not gay. Sorry."

"…What?"

(Then she remembered.)

"I mean, I'm sorry. But Toyo-kun, despite appearances, is much more interested in the opposite sex."

"No, that's not what I meant—"

"I'm really sorry—"

"No, _really_. I didn't mean it that way—"

"I've always known you and Shino had something going on but you're going to have to find someone else—"

"HELL NO! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! THAT'S NOT WHY I ASKED—" Tenten could just imagine Kiba's expression was, and could barely smother her laughter.

"…" Shino's silence sounded very ominous.

"Don't worry," Ino soothed, ignoring Kiba's words completely. "I'll make sure he lets you down gently—"

"No, just, no—you know what, forget we had this conversation. Just forget it. And now if you'll excuse me, I need to go throw up." Footsteps hurried away from Ino, determined to be as far from her as possible.

"…You're not going to say anything else, are you?" Shino asked monotonously.

"Say what else, Shino-_kun_?"

"…good-bye." Shino also left, though not nearly as loudly as Kiba had.

Ino waited until both boys were well out of range before turning to the bushes where her friends lay in hiding.

"Am I awesome, or what?"

With various strangled noises, the trio within the bushes popped up, gasping and attempting to remove oddly clingy plant bits from their person.

"Ino," began Tenten seriously as she pulled twigs and leaves out of her hair. "I could kiss you right now. That was brilliant."

"Pish-posh." Ino flapped a hand carelessly at Tenten. "And I don't like to lie, so I'm not about to take you up on that offer."

"It wasn't meant to be taken up—"

"Why were Kiba and Shino asking about you?" Sakura effectively cut through the petty squabble. "Neji's the suspicious one."

"And Sasuke—" Tenten interjected.

"—But we won't go into that."

"Neji nii-san probably made them go ask about you, Toyo-kun." Hinata pointed out.

"He does have a little too much pride to ask Ino," agreed Sakura. "Actually, I'm a little surprised that he hasn't gone after you, Hinata-chan."

"Oh, he did."

"What! When?" The other girls stared at the Hyuuga.

"A couple of days ago. Don't worry, I didn't tell him anything."

"Well, what did he ask?" Demanded Ino.

"The exact same thing that Kiba-kun just asked Ino-chan." Hinata shrugged. "Though it sounds like he gave them something else to say, and Kiba-kun just changed it to something more generic."

"Hinata-chan, do you think Neji will make other people ask about me?" Asked Tenten, wondering what sort of stories they would have to make up to placate Neji that she really was who he thought she was.

Hinata shook her head. "No. Neji nii-san will probably just start doing research by himself. School records and that sort of thing."

Tenten let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God for Temari, then. I swear, if that girl doesn't become a professional hacker one day, I'll…do something ridiculous."

"Neji won't be happy." Remarked Sakura, starting to laugh.

"Yeah." Tenten's smile was wiped off her face.

"Tenten-chan, what's wrong?"

"I'm _dead_."

"But if Neji can't find out anything about you—"

"Not that kind of dead. Dead as in 'Neji likes to take out his frustration on his poor sparring partner'. And since poor-sparring-partner is on of the reasons he's frustrated…"

"Oh."

"You _are_ dead."

* * *

In a way, Tenten had been wrong when she had said she was going to be dead.

Being dead wouldn't hurt as much.

The very next day during Shinobi practice, Tenten fell with a crash on her back, gasping for air. Neji stood above her, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Neji!" Gai's voice sounded seriously alarmed. "I think that's enough." He walked over to Tenten and helped her up on her feet, letting her steady herself.

"Toyo, are you all right?"

"Yes, Gai-sensei." Tenten shook off the hand on her shoulder once she gouged that she was fine, save for a few already-darkening bruises. "Come on, let's start over."

Neji smirked and widened his stance. "With pleasure."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Gai cut in. "Toyo, go spar with Lee for now. I'll spar with Neji."

"But—" Tenten knew that she and Neji's current sparring session had been more of her being a punching-bag for him than anything else, but she still liked to fight him.

"Now."

Gai's tone left no room for argument, and Tenten reluctantly obliged. Fortunately, Lee's cheerful, upbeat declarations of her imminent defeat helped raise her spirits and force her into a friendly competition against Lee. The team practice hours, however, forced them to abort the competition while there still was no clear winner.

At Neji's dismissal, Tenten zoomed into the locker room, grabbed her bag, and zoomed out before any of the boys started stripping and showering. Instead of going home the way she would have liked, she loitered outside the girls' locker room, impatiently waiting for the other three girls to exit so that they could go to her apartment and let themselves unwind.

While she waited, her sensitive ears picked up Neji's and Gai's voices, coming from somewhere out of sight. Curious, and a little edgily, she creeped closer to where the voices were, but didn't dare to peek around the side of the building.

"…you've been in a bad temper for nearly a week now. Is something wrong?" Tenten recognized the tone of Gai's voice; it was a favorite of his to calm others down, and usually worked despite his usual knack of getting those same people _worked up_.

"…No. Sorry, Gai-sensei, for how out of control I have been getting. I will increase my meditation, and try to regain my control." Neji answered. Tenten noted with some relief that no matter how unbendable Neji's will could be at times, even he couldn't help but let his anger die away when Gai started being reasonable.

Gai sighed. "Neji, yes, control is important. But it seems to me that there is some hostility between you and Toyo at the moment. I don't know what's going on, but both of you need to work it out. We're ahead in the tournament so far, and if we want to win again, we don't need any inside problems, do you understand."

"I will try to act on your advice." Said Neji stiffly. Tenten rolled her eyes at his careful wording.

_So that's no 'yes', _she thought wryly. _On the bright side, it's not much of a 'no' either…_

"That's all I ask of you." Gai replied solemnly. "Remember, we need strong teamwork and a strong captain to win. You can't have one without the other."

_Now __**that**__ probably got through. Gai really knows us…_

"And of course, the never-before-failed Power of YOUTH!"

_…I'll take it back. That just ruined the effect. And he was doing so well…_

"Yes, Gai-sensei." Footsteps coming her way indicated that Neji was making a quick getaway, and she hastily retreated from the end of the wall and back to where she had been standing just outside the gym doors, looking for all the world bored of waiting for someone. Other than a cold, sidelong glance in her direction as he passed, Neji gave no other indication that he noticed her, heading straight for the showers.

Once he securely disappeared behind the locker room door, Tenten allowed herself to collapse against the wall (still standing up) and groan, rubbing her forehead tiredly.

She had a nasty feeling that her deception was not going to last much longer.

* * *

**A/N: **Over 4,500 words and not much happening. Ugh.

Next chapter will be faster, promise.

Please review!


	15. Red Handed

I (mostly) lived up to my promise, thank god. Please enjoy this chapter.

* * *

As the semi-finals approached, Tenten's paranoia grew stronger and stronger. Though most the Shinobi team treated her very normally (though Kiba seemed to be keeping his distance), Neji and Sasuke remained clearly suspicious. Neji may have stopped doing obvious enquiries, but Tenten still felt the painful tension between them, and was grateful that, once the team made it past the semi finals, her deception would almost be completed.

That said, there were still a couple of weeks before the semi finals, and another week before the finals themselves, and until then Tenten would have to behave herself very carefully.

All around her, the main topic of discussion was the faceoff against Suna for a place in the finals. While Suna and Konoha weren't exactly enemies, per se (that role belonged to Oto, and occasionally Mist), their rivalry always made for a good match. Practically everyone in the school anticipated a good match.

And Neji had no plans to let them down.

Practice was extended for an extra half hour each day. Though the extension didn't _sound_ like very much, Neji was pushing them so hard that the practices were becoming almost unbearably long to most of the team. Naruto had commented once to her, only half-joking, that Neji did this every year to 'kill everyone who annoys him'.

One afternoon after a particularly hard practice, Tenten was getting ready to go home when she was approached by Neji.

"Toyo." She stiffened upon hearing her 'name' from his mouth. Though Neji hadn't been actively trying to rat her out, the harsh glares and brutal sparring sessions nearly killed her. Thankfully, Gai had intervened, and Neji had been handed to Lee as a training partner, much to Lee's delight and Tenten's relief.

"Yeah, Neji?" She turned to face him, reminding herself to breath normally, and not like someone under torture. _He'll only suspect you more if you don't act totally natural…_

"Come with me." He turned and began walking away before even hearing her answer. Figuring that more damage would be dealt if she tried to bolt, Tenten reluctantly followed, eying him warily, just incase he had planned on savaging her the second they were far enough away from the rest of the team.

Much to her surprise, however, Neji headed directly to the dorm rooms, with almost-single-minded determination. Minutely, Tenten allowed herself to relax, reminding herself that, if he tried to kill her, she could easily scream for help and someone would hear her. She relaxed even more once they were in the building, as it was unlikely that he would (or even _could_) try anything now.

"Here," he said curtly, stopping in front of one of the numbered doors and unlocking it. Her previous feeling of safety instantly faded, the panic returning full-force, and Tenten would have given in to her instincts and bolted if she had had enough courage. But she didn't, and mechanically, she followed Neji into his dorm room.

The first thing that hit her was that one side of the room was painted blinding, bright neon green that made her eyes water. In fact, everything on that side of the room was green, from the bed sheets to the desk to even the dresser. It couldn't have been more obvious that it was the dwelling place of the Second Green Beast of Konoha.

Once her eyes had recovered from the visual assault, she turned her attention to the other side of the room. Unlike Lee's painful, eye-catching colors, Neji's belongings were either stark white or black; no shade in between. The Hyuuga prodigy dumped his Shinobi bag on his bed before turning to face her, arms crossed and lips pressed together in a thin line.

He said nothing, and the silence stretched between them like a rubber band, waiting for the tension to snap it.

"…So, you wanted to talk to me?" Tenten asked, unable to bear it and simply wanting to get the encounter over with.

"Yes." Neji nodded brusquely. "It's come to my attention that you have been…hiding something from us."

"Us?" Tenten queried, trying to calm her now-erratic nerves and breathing.

"The Shinobi team," he elaborated, eying her with intense scrutiny. Tenten squirmed, too uncomfortable to control her actions. "I have no idea what you're lying about, but I'm sure it isn't something that would be…inconsequential to us."

Against her will, Tenten found herself nodding, and wondered why she had been cursed with such foolishness.

"I have tried to figure out what it is," he continued, still looking at her, "but I simply can't find the answer. And finding out, at this point, frankly, would probably do more harm than good. So I have a deal to make with you."

_That_ took Tenten by surprise. "A deal?"

Neji nodded stiffly in confirmation. "A deal. You're a good shinobi: not something easily faked. And much as I hate to say it, we're going to need you for the semi-finals and later, the actual finals. So here's my proposition:

"You can keep your secret to yourself, on the premise that you work hard and don't do anything that could endanger our chances of winning. In the meantime, I will stop actively pursuing information about you. But if whatever you're hiding is a threat to the team, I _will_ rat you out to Tsunade. She is considerably more persuasive that I will ever be. Do I make myself clear?"

"I understand." Tenten could feel the bubbly sensation of a laughing fit threatening to burst out, and bit her lip to hide her smile. Neji had practically given her complete leeway to do what she needed to, no interferences. It was perfect.

"Good." Seemingly satisfied, he sat down on the edge of his bed, still looking at her.

"…I should be getting home." She said. Neji simply nodded, but stayed where he was. As she was about to leave, a question popped up in her head, and she paused at the doorway.

"Hey Neji…"

"What?"

Tenten gestured at Lee's side of the room.

"How can you sleep when half the room is practically glowing?"

"I've gotten used to it," he smirked. "Lee's been my roommate for four years."

Tenten winced. "I knew that, but," she looked (not directly) at Lee's side of the room, "My eyes…"

"There _is_ a reason that some people think I'm blind, you know." There was pure amusement in his voice.

Tenten nodded, laughed…then ran.

* * *

The weeks flew by and finally, the day of the semi-finals arrived. The matches were to take place in the Konoha stadium and begin at nine o' clock.

It was a very nice Saturday, with the sun shining and the sky bright blue.

It was also utterly _freezing_.

"I hate winter," Naruto was heard grumbling as they stretched on the field, "Why can't we just have warm weather all year round; why do we need winter?"

"It's only November, dobe. Winter doesn't start for another four weeks."

"It's still cold, teme. Not like it matters to you. You're made of ice. Seriously, who likes the cold?"

"I do." said Neji blandly. Tenten just tuned out the ensuring argument. She agreed more with Naruto than Neji, warm weather was much better than the cold, especially if there wouldn't be any snow. Especially during any kind of Shinobi performance.

"Make sure you stretch really well," she reminded Hinata and Ino besides her. "You don't want to cramp up."

"I would do so—too bad there are no girls on the Suna team! I can't fight, Hinata can't fight, and Sakura can't fight. Remember?" Ino gave Tenten the same incredulous look she was frequently bestowed with.

"Oh." Tenten felt her cheeks heat up. It _was_ silly to forget her chief reason for dressing like a boy.

"Toyo-kun, really. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were just dying your hair."

Tenten frowned in confusion. "Why would I dye my hair?"

"So that no one would know you were blonde!"

"Hey, you're not one to talk—you forget things all the time!" Tenten shot back, not offended but not especially amused either. Ino stopped laughing and glared.

"I may be blonde—but I generally don't do stupid things." She pointed out. "That's Naruto's job."

"_HEY!_" Naruto tried to protest this point, had not Sakura and Sasuke grabbed his hair and pulled, inciting an argument between the three of them and distracting Naruto from Ino.

"But you are troublesome," muttered Shikamaru, well on the other side of Tenten.

"What did you say_, Shika-kun_?" Unfortunately for Shikamaru, Ino had unusually sharp hearing.

"He never learns," remarked Chouji, shaking his head. "Ino, please don't do any lasting damage, all right? We actually _need_ him if we want to win." Ino gave a noncommittal snort, too busy shaking Shikamaru to give a proper answer. Tenten went back to stretching, trying not to be _too_ flexible, considering that boys weren't as flexible as girls, as a rule.

She could feel Sasuke watching her from the corner of his eye, though he was giving Sakura more of his attention. Neji hadn't been kidding when he had told her that he and Sasuke would be keeping tabs on her nearly every second of the day. It was annoying; but Tenten found it relatively easy to ignore. Neji had, after all, promised to leave her alone unless she tried to sabotage the team.

Really, having a solid foundation for her secret made everything much easier to bear.

As the time drew closer, Kakashi called them up and had them crowd around him in a semi-circle.

"Don't expect a pep talk from me; I only have one thing to say." He was looking oddly more serious than usual. "If we can beat Suna, the finals are pretty much won. Mist is tricky, but their players aren't nearly as good as Suna's. So do your best to win this thing, and we're pretty much set. Got it?"

"Yeah!" They chorused. Kakashi nodded his approval.

"Good. Now get in—it's almost time."

With intense excitement—and also dread—the Konoha Shinobi headed into the stadium.

* * *

The stands were completely packed: students, parents, friends, family—everyone had come to see the face-off. The anticipation and terror in the pit of Tenten's stomach increased tenfold. This was it. Even more important than the finals. If she was shown as able to beat any member of the team she was kept from, she would achieve her purpose.

She gazed steadily at the team entering opposite from her. She could place a name with nearly every face. Gaara was at the forefront, as always, and flanking him were the rest of his teammates, including…

"Kankuro!"

"I thought he left Suna?" Hinata glanced over to the Shinobi team in surprise, then back to Tenten, eyebrows raised.

"He did," said Tenten, "I have no idea why he's here, but he really doesn't look like he wants to be here." Had it been a different situation, Tenten would have labeled the expression on Kankuro's (always painted) face as 'sulky', like a little kid's. He caught her eye and pulled at face, clearly indicating his unwillingness to be there.

"Toyo," Tenten's head snapped around to face Neji.

"Yeah?"

"…Good luck." Was the simple response, before the Hyuuga turned his attention to Gaara. Tenten raised an eyebrow at the unusual gesture, but quickly turned her attention to Tsunade, who had walked into the center of the stadium, holding a loudspeaker and calling for attention.

"WELCOME TO EVERYONE WHO HAS COME TO TODAY'S MATCH!" She spoke through the loudspeaker, the amplification of her voice ringing in everyone's ears. "BEFORE WE BEGIN, I WOULD LIKE TO REMIND BOTH THE FANS AND THE TEAMS THAT THIS IS A FRIENDLY COMPETITION, AND I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANOTHER MATCH LIKE LAST YEAR'S ULTIMATIUM, GOT IT? SO NO THROWING ANYTHING, NO BEATING ON EACH OTHER IN THE STANDS, AND ABSOLUTELY NO DESTROYING THE STADIUM!" A ripple of nervous laughter rippled through the crowds. Out of the corner of her eye, Tenten could see Lee cringe from the memory, and she fought back a grin. In any case, she was relieved that Lee and Gaara were no longer allowed to fight together—it hadn't ended very nicely.

"DO WE UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER?" Tsunade asked, grinning as she heard the crowd give a unanimous 'yes'. "THEN LET THE MATCHES BEGIN! FIRST UP WILL BE KATANA TOYO AGAINST NAGASAKI TAKESHI!"

Tenten grinned, cracked her knuckles, saluted Sakura, Ino, and Hinata (who were currently stuck on the bench) and headed straight for the matted center of the stadium, where the referee and her opponent were waiting. Giving the boy a quick look-over, she determined that this Takeshi was probably stronger than her, but wouldn't be as fast.

"Begin." The referee stepped off the mats, leaving Tenten and Takeshi to their fight.

* * *

"Katana wins!"

Coughing and gasping for air, Tenten left the arena, barely able to keep her balance. Her abdomen sent shooting pains through her body every time she took a breath; she was positive that once she got around to actually inspecting it, she wouldn't see her original skin color. Already she could feel the slight stiffening of her muscles.

"Toyo-kun!" She looked up to find Sakura, Ino and Hinata running towards her, anxiety written all over their faces.

"Are you all right?"

"What the hell happened?! You look like you just got steam-rollered."

"Do you need help, Toyo-kun?" asked Hinata, already at her side, ready to support her should she give the word.

"Yes, I'm fine, I feel like I was and no thank you, Hinata-chan." Tenten answered all of the questions directed to her and, with difficulty, managed to make her way to the benches, sitting down with obvious relief.

"But seriously, what happened?" demanded Ino, "You were doing fine then—wham! You get pummeled."

Tenten smiled, a little shakily. "I underestimated how fast he was. I forgot that big people aren't necessarily slow people."

Ino just sighed, shaking her head.

"How badly did he hurt you?" asked Sakura, ever the aspiring doctor.

"Just bruises. Nothing too serious." _I hope._

Sakura lifted an eyebrow skeptically. "Nothing that knocks you out of the tournament? Because that looked pretty painful."

_Oh it was._

"I'll live," she assured them. "It's not as bad as half of what we saw last year, remember?"

"I guess…" Sakura still looked unconvinced.

"Shikamaru's match is starting," said Tenten, throwing the focus off of her, "shouldn't you guys be supporting him?"

Ino had already turned her attention to the arena the second she had heard Shikamaru's name, making a beeline for a closer look, their previous scuffle already forgotten. Sakura reluctantly followed and, with a last lingering look at Tenten, so did Hinata.

"You sure you'll be able to stay in the game?" asked Neji, so suddenly that Tenten started in surprise.

"I think so; once I've rested a little I'll be fine." She grinned widely at him, hoping and praying he would just buy the act and leave her alone.

One of his eyebrows rose. "That was a full kick in the stomach—not something to be taken lightly."

Tenten shrugged nonchalantly. "It wasn't any lower; I'll live." He stared at her for a few moments, before snorting lightly and leaving her be, turning his attention to the match in progress.

The pain on Tenten's stomach began to slowly recede, and she watched the following matches, cheering with the crowd when Konoha pulled a victory and booing when they were defeated—but not too much. She had checked the bruise surreptitiously, and had already gotten the impression that someone had smeared blueberry juice all over her belly. The only saving grace was that she hadn't broken any ribs, so she would be fine…give or take a couple weeks.

Pity she wasn't given such a nice long time to recover.

* * *

Tenten gaped, unsure of what she had heard. "I have to go _again_?" After watching Neji's spectacular fight against Gaara—in which they had beaten each other black and blue—learning that she was going up again was _not,_ for lack of a better word, pleasant.

_Not only am I up again, but I'm against Kankuro?!_

Gai sighed. "Toyo-kun, you knew this would happen. We don't have enough male Shinobi—we need to reuse team members. Besides, you've gone twice before, haven't you?"

"I know," Grimacing slightly, Tenten got to her feet. "I know."

"I could have them pull you, if you don't feel able to—" He abruptly stopped talking at the sharp look Tenten gave him.

"I'm _perfectly_ able." She said, her voice sure despite the pain she felt. "I'll be fine, Gai-sensei."

She made her way back onto the mat, stopping only when she was barely a yard away from Kankuro, right near the center.

"Begin!"

Instead of waiting, this time Tenten engaged Kankuro in a taijutsu dance, knowing that he wasn't very good with direct, fast hand-to-hand combat.

"How'd you end up _here_?" she asked between blows, dodging and swerving away before jumping towards him, intent on landing a hit.

"Father decided that blackmail was appropriate," explained Kankuro, wincing as Tenten dealt a particularly heavy handed blow to his shoulder. "If I didn't do this, he would've mauled Karasu."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I don't even know how he got his hands on Karasu, let alone where he's keeping him—" Tenten hissed as she tried to pivot out of Kankuro's way only to be lightly decked across the face, "—but you do what you got to do. At least he only figured how to do it this year. Once next year comes around, I'll be safe in a school for the arts well on the other side of the world."

"Lucky." she commented, sweeping his feet out from under him.

"Yeah." he agreed, back-flipping out of the way.

They continued to fight, dodging, punching, kicking, and feinting. Kankuro was a good fighter, and Tenten briefly wondered why he found the sport so distasteful.

The wondering ceased when he punched her hard in the stomach, knocking her to the ground.

The hit to her stomach left her winded, gasping for air. As Tenten struggled to get to her feet, she was overtaken by a violent fit of hacking coughs, one hand flying to her mouth, the other clamped tightly around her stomach. It wouldn't stop; she couldn't draw any more breath…

With a last hacking cough, Tenten was able to breath. Feeling something warm and wet on her palm, she drew it away from her face, examining the substance with a feeling akin to horror.

Her hand was splashed with blood.

She dimly heard Kankuro shouting, his voice joined by Gai's and the referee's. It seemed to be about stopping the match, but she still couldn't think or comprehend quickly.

Someone helped her to her feet, hoisting one of her arms over their shoulder.

"Toyo-kun, can you walk?" That was Gai's voice; he was the one supporting her.

"Yeah…just fine…" she mumbled, trying to think beyond breathing and the various aches covering her body.

"Good." His voice was calm, soothing; very unlike him. "We're ending the match. You need to see Shizune, she needs to give you a check over—"

Tenten's common sense screamed at her, telling her to take it like a woman, stop letting herself be led and above all avoid what was about to happen. But she was so tired, she could barely think straight, and allowed herself to be led into the coach's office in the locker rooms.

* * *

Shizune took one look at her and ordered that Tenten sit down on one of the two beds right now while she got the supplies ready. Tenten removed herself from Gai's support and was able to walk, slightly unsteady, to the bed and sit down. The haze in her mind had mostly disappeared, replaced with a sick sort of anticipation of what was inevitable.

"Hello, Toyo-kun," Shizune smiled at her, "Where does it hurt?"

"Um…"

"For the most part it's just normal bruising and stuff like that." Gai cut in before she could say anything. "But he was coughing up blood, and well," He cast a worried glance at Tenten, "I figured that he needed to be checked…just in case."

Shizune nodded. "Good." She turned her attention to Tenten. "Now Toyo-kun, if you would please hold still…" She began to test Tenten, touching her arms, bending her limbs experimentally, asking questions all the while. Tenten answered them tersely, silently pleading that please, _please_ Shizune wouldn't have to check her torso, that she would be able to completely finish the charade.

"—hm, you're right Gai, it is mostly just bad bruising—" Tenten forced herself to listen to Shizune, "—and I don't like the look of that knee, but it doesn't look too serious, so I'll leave it alone."

"Will he need any medication?"

Shizune shook her head, smiling. "No, just a little rest will be more than enough. If he goes around it correctly, Toyo-kun will be able to participate in the finals with no trouble at all."

"Can I leave?" Tenten made to stand, only to be pulled back down by Shizune.

"Calm down!" She laughed lightly, "I know you're eager to get out of here, Toyo-kun, but before you can go, I need you to take off your shirt."

"What?" Tenten asked weakly, feeling a horrible, swooping sensation in her stomach. Gai looked grim, arms crossed and head lowered.

"I have to check, just in case your injuries are dangerous," explained Shizune gently. "You coughed blood after being hit in the stomach, am I right?"

"Well, yes, but—"

"There's no need to be embarrassed, Toyo-kun. I have seen many young men shirtless since I've been here; it's hardly a reason for mortification. Now please cooperate. I only want to help."

"Can Gai-sensei not be here, please?" Tenten pleaded.

"If you insist," Shizune gestured to Gai, and he left the room, but not before sending Tenten an apologetic look. "Now will you please cooperate?"

Reluctantly, with the knot in her stomach tightening even more painfully, Tenten slid off her sweat-stained shirt. She didn't dare to look up at Shizune's soft intake of breath, seeing the bandages that, while effective under layers of loose shirts and clean cut uniforms, hadn't entirely hidden the fact that, yes, she was a girl.

"Well, that answers that question," Shizune's voice took on a slight edge that Tenten could not understand. She held still as the nurse carefully touched her ribs and examined the dark bruising on the exposed part of her stomach, wincing if the pressure became too great. But her mind was far away, lamenting the loss of her secret.

She had known it would've happened in any case, but it still hurt.

"I'm done." Shizune's voice broke her out of her reverie. "You have some painful bruising, but nothing worth a trip to the hospital. No broken ribs, nothing that should give you too much pain."

"Thanks."

"I'm obligated to tell your coach, Toyo—whoever you are," Her voice was cool, but not harsh. "Stay here."

There really was no reason for her to disobey the order, Tenten thought, alone in the room. Now that her secret was known, there was no reason to deny her identity. Dimly she heard Tsunade's voice, asking an indiscernible question, and Shizune's voice, responding to that question. There was more talking, other voices joining in surprise.

_Doesn't sound like it's just the coach…_

The door opened, and Tsunade strode in, staring directly at her, looking as though she could barely believe what she was seeing. Behind her were Kakashi, sans book, Shizune, and Gai. Just outside the door the Shinobi team was straining to see inside, get a better look. From the corners of her eyes, she could see their curiosity, their concern…their shock.

Tenten couldn't bear to look at them, choosing instead to look straight up into Tsunade's eyes.

"So, young lady, just who are you and would you care to let us know what has been going on?" asked the blonde woman, eyebrows raised, arms crossed.

She took a deep breath, mentally readying herself for the interrogation to come.

"My name is Tenten. And for the past three months, I've been passing myself off as Katana Toyo…"

* * *

A/N: …And the cat's out of the bag!

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Let me know in a review! We're almost at the end here, people!


	16. Championed

A/N: Well, here it is…the final chapter.

Yikes.

Enjoy.

* * *

On Monday morning, Tenten was roused from bed not by her alarm clock, but by the persistent ringing, not just of her regular phone, but also of her cell phone. Still groggy with sleep and growing _very_ cranky due to the cheery ringtones ripping their way through her skull, Tenten grabbed the nearest one (which happened to be her cell phone) and clicked it on.

"What?" She snapped, too tired to be cordial.

"Wakey wakey, sunshine!" Tenten grimaced as Ino's voice radiated cheerfully out of the phone. Unlike most sane people, the blonde was a morning person. "Are you coming to school today?"

"Of course I'm coming to school today!" she snapped, "I have a freaking Chinese test and do you have any idea what Ibiki _does_ to the people who miss them? Chews them up—I swear, he's a master of torture."

Ino laughed.

"Yeesh, calm down. I was only checking to see if you were coming, after everything that happened."

"Why wouldn't I—oh. Nevermind." Tenten felt herself wake up a little more as she recalled exactly what had transpired over the past couple of days. Tsunade's questioning, her secret coming out…the whole school probably knew by now, what with the way gossip can spread. For that matter, Tenten was surprised that she hadn't been plastered across the local newspaper yet.

"Yeah…You're still going to come, right?" asked Ino, a little less frivolously.

"Yes I'm going to come," Tenten smiled, though she knew Ino couldn't see it, "Like I said, I have a Chinese test today. And besides, I'd be in more trouble for skipping. Thanks for the concern, though, really."

"Eh, don't mention it. 'Sides, Forehead Girl's hogging the bathroom, so it's not like I had anything better to do. And Hinata was the one calling your other phone; she's worried about you."

That sentence managed to diminish most of her terrible mood. "Oh, that makes sense now. Thank her for me, would you?"

"I will." promised Ino.

"See you at school."

"Bye."

Tenten stared at her cell, a slight smile playing on her lips, before checking the clock and realizing she had an hour and a half before school started.

_Might as well get up now._ With a groan, Tenten got herself up out of bed.

Her routine proceeded as normal, washing and brushing and just generally taking care of her personal hygiene, then taking care of her stomach. It was only when it was time to get dressed that there came a crisis.

For one thing, she wasn't sure if she should just keep dressing the way she had been doing so, since probably everyone at the Academy knew she was a girl, and would probably think it was strange. For another thing, Konoha Academy required uniforms, and she only had one kind of uniform and it was the _boy's_ uniform and even though she wasn't a boy, what would they care?

"Ah, screw it." snarled Tenten to herself, grabbing her uniform and starting to dress. The only changes she made was to leave off the bandages and actually wear a bra underneath, and to leave her hair loose. She had debated this particular change, but then decided that, if her physique and normal voice didn't point out to her classmates that, yes she was a girl and _proud of it_, then loose hair would definitely drive the point home.

Tenten stared at her reflection in the mirror for a long moment, then sighed and shook her head.

"Time to go," she muttered, hitching her bag over one shoulder and trying to ignore the slight queasiness in her stomach as she headed out the door.

* * *

Tenten had been unsure what exactly to expect when she entered the school grounds, though she had had some vague ideas.

Staring. Definitely.

Whispers? Of course.

Just not quite at the level that it was.

While it wasn't exactly the movie-style, everyone-stops-and-stares-and-whispers-excitedly, it was pretty close. Most of the underclassmen watched her go with curiosity, and were the ones doing the most whispering. The juniors and seniors, on the other hand, were staring at her to the point that Tenten thought they would burn a hole through her skull. She did her best to ignore them, and the bits of whispered comments that her ears caught as she passed by, on her way to their usual meeting place.

Scanning the center courtyard, Tenten had never been more grateful that her friends stood out so clearly. She hurried towards them, dodging anyone in her way.

"You'd think people would have better things to do than just stare, wouldn't you?" commented Ino, glaring at those whose eyes were fixated on Tenten and successfully forcing them to look away by sheer will. Tenten smiled gratefully at the blonde, pulling at her collar uncomfortably.

"They'll get over it soon enough," said Sakura, addressing Tenten directly, "They'll get used to you in a few days and all will be forgotten." Tenten found it a rather optimistic train of thought, but knew Sakura was just trying to ease her mind, and she wasn't about to stop her.

"What time is it?" she asked instead, having forgotten her own watch at home.

"We have time."

"Good." Tenten could already feel the dread of facing her classmates building up inside of her, coupled with the strong desire to avoid them for as long as possible.

The four girls stood together, talking idly about silly things, while the schoolmates around them studiously avoided staring for too long, lest they be scared off by a deadly glower from one of the three girls' surrounding the one in the boy's uniform. Tenten was grateful for them, but all too quickly the warning bell to get to class rang, signaling to her that it was time to fully begin her trial. Sakura and Ino both wished her good luck. Hinata said nothing, but gave her a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Tenten smiled at them all, and walked away, mentally calming herself.

She paid no mind to the comments, some whispered and some obvious, she heard the further she got from her friends' range of hearing. Tenten had always valued her own opinion about herself well above what others thought of each other, and had thus developed a very thick skin. Besides, Gai had always disapproved of lashing out at those who made fun of one's weakness and instead encouraged building up strengths that one could be proud of that also overshadowed the weakness. Tenten had particularly liked this one, if just for the simple fact that her hundred percent weapons' accuracy meant that her dismemberment fantasies were _very_ satisfying.

When she walked through the door of her classroom, the room went deadly quiet. No one whispered, no one moved a limb; nothing. The only things that moved were their eyes, following her across the room to her seat. Just staring at her.

Tenten did her best to ignore them, as she had with the students outside. Unfortunately, unlike the school grounds, the Chinese classroom was closed up, and seemed to magnify and intensify their audacious attention. Tenten attempted to hold on to some bit of normalcy by squeezing in some last-minute-studying before class started.

It didn't work.

The almost-physical pressure of their stares was unnerving her, the tension in the room growing heavier and heavier with each second that passed. She was almost ready to scream, if only to get rid of the oppressive, almost _accusing_ silence.

"AH TOYO-OR-TENTEN!"

The tension shattered with the silence, as everyone shifted their gazes from Tenten to Lee and his (as usual) dramatic entrance. He was, as per usual, full of energy and smiling his too-white smile.

"Yes, Lee?" asked Tenten, a little scared of what Lee had to say to her. He had made his way to her desk and was staring down at her.

And he wasn't smiling.

"Why didn't you tell us…" he began.

Tenten closed her eyes and took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself to face…well…whatever his reaction would be.

"…that YOU WERE FOSTERED BY GAI-SENSEI_?_"

_You have got to be kidding me. That's it?_

"I couldn't, Lee," Tenten was uncomfortably aware of how the whole class was listening to their conversation. "Besides, aren't you mad about…well, you know?"

Lee, much to Tenten's surprise, burst out laughing.

"About you being a girl, you mean?" he inquired politely. "Should I be mad? Surprised, certainly." He sat down besides her. "But there is not much point in being angry. The last time I met you like this I thought you were a very nice girl. Why should I harbor angry feelings towards a nice girl?"

Tenten almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sure, she had known that Lee was the nicest of nearly all the boys she had met, but she had expected even him to feel at least _a little_ righteous anger at her deception.

"Well…I _lied_ to you." Lee smiled and shook his head at her weak protest.

"People lie all the time, and almost never for a good cause," he pointed out patiently. "Your cause was good, and to see it through you were simply unable to tell anyone."

"You consider wanting to be a Chuunin a good cause?" she asked, confused.

Lee nodded vigorously. "I can understand why it would be so important to you. I would probably do the same myself, if I was ever in a similar situation." He propped his chin in one hand, elbow resting on the desk, "Yet somehow I doubt I would be as successful imitating a member of the opposite sex as you were."

Tenten didn't even try to picture what he would look like, simply shuddering in fear at the very idea.

But the fear inside her was residing, being replaced with infinite gratitude towards Lee.

"I'm not sure it would be a very good idea either, Lee-kun." She smiled at the surprise on his face at the new suffix, "And thank you."

"You're welcome." He looked confused, but chose not to say anything else. Instead he looked towards the door. "Ah! Neji!"

Tenten froze. The tension returned, except much heavier and laced with anticipation of what would happen, as the Hyuuga entered the room. Tenten's eyes stayed on him as he neared, though he didn't so much as glare at her.

"Lee, you're going to need a new alarm clock."

In fact, he was downright ignoring her.

Lee sighed. "Neji, really, you may be my eternal rival but at least have some respect for my things—"

"I will do that when you start remembering that the general rule is that you wake up and go on a five mile jog _after_ the alarm clock rings. Not before."

"Yes, Neji. Then I shall do one thousand push-ups during practice today for penance!"

"Please don't." Neji rolled his eyes at Lee and turned his attention to the board, copying down the characters written there. He didn't glance at Tenten even once.

Considering that she sat right in front of him, Tenten thought drolly, it was quite a feat.

The bell for class rang, and anyone not doing what they were supposed to be doing immediately sat down and began pulling out books, papers and pencils in preparation for the test.

As usual, Ibiki stormed into the room, glaring around to intimidate the troublemakers into placid just-glad-to-exist-ers. But today, instead of just heading to the front of the room and starting class, he stopped right in front of Tenten's desk. She gulped and craned her neck in order to see his face.

"Katana?"

"Yes, Ibiki-sensei?" She didn't bother to correct him—she was still intimidated.

"I certainly hope you are aware that despite your recent revelations, you aren't excused from anything that goes on in this school, especially this test. Are you?"

"Of course, Ibiki-sensei."

He nodded, still not smiling. "Good. Don't expect me to treat you any differently despite _this_. I don't care. Nor do I know why so many of my students are so worked up over something so trivial," he seemed to be directing his statements to the rest of the class, "Considering how often this school mistakes boys for girls in any case. Now get ready; it's time for your test. Anyone caught staring around the room will get their test taken away and an automatic zero, got it?" Tenten smiled slightly to herself, recognizing the warning to extend beyond cheating.

"Yes, Ibiki-sensei." chorused the class.

"Good."

* * *

Much to Tenten's surprise, all of her teachers seemed to take Ibiki's stand on her gender. Other than staring at her a little funny from time to time, they treated her normally. She went through her classes with little trouble, other than enduring the stares and whispers. Much to her disappointment, Neji still wasn't acknowledging her presence. She had already known this was going to be hard for him, considering that the teammate he beat up on a regular basis was also the girl he was dating, but it hurt not even being able to talk to him without having to worry about what he would say to her.

She didn't go to the cafeteria for lunch, not ready to face the Shinobi team the way she was. Instead, she went behind the library, where there was a nice grassy hill and a couple of large, shady trees. Though she hadn't told them where she would be, the girls arrived soon after, holding their lunches. Without a word, they sat next to her and started to eat.

Tenten had seldom been so grateful for her friends.

The only real trouble she had was when she walked into the boys' locker room out of sheer force of habit and almost immediately was forced to race back out, pelted by articles of clothing and cans of questionable substances.

The girls' locker room wasn't much better, what with the curious glances, rude glares, and snide comments. Tenten ignored it, stripping off her uniform and slipping into her PE clothes, grateful that those at least were unisex. Tying her hair back with a borrowed hair tie, she waited patiently for the other girls to finish so that they could walk out together.

Her mood worsened when she was told that, as she was a girl, she was to join Anko's class instead of Gai's. The energetic woman had been thrilled to gain a new student, and in her enthusiasm made Tenten go through a series of very painful stretches and other exercises in order to 'discover her limits', and insisted that the rest of the class go through it as well. By the time the bell rang, Tenten was not only as beaten up as the first day of class, but was also considerably resented by her other classmates. It wasn't the sort of resentment that would last for very long, but after spending the day listening to whispers and enduring stares, she could hardly stand it.

And the worst part, she thought to herself as she left the school, was that one of the reasons she had taken on the task of disguising herself because she had thought she _could_ stand it.

Tenten didn't look back as she left the building, figuring that she might as well take the initiative and just stop showing up for practices, instead of having to be told to her face that she was no longer allowed. Even just thinking of the concept hurt.

As soon as she got home, she sat on her bed and burst into tears. Not tears of sadness, but of mixed emotions. Frustration for being caught, anger for losing her team in the first place…

Guilt that she had deceived them…

And hurt, for that fact that Neji would not look at her.

* * *

The next day was marginally better. The rude comments in the hall had lessened somewhat, the teachers pretty much remained apathetic to the whole situation, and the intensity of the stares had significantly diminished. It was only when they referred to her as 'Toyo', out of habit and had to correct themselves that Tenten was reminded that most people were still holding her at bay; scrutinizing her.

However, those feelings were erased and replaced by an incident that occurred early in the second morning she spent as Tenten.

Halfway through Tenten's second period, while she copied lecture notes in Iruka's English class, they were interrupted by a shy sophomore.

"Udon-kun, do you need something?" asked Iruka, not at all annoyed about his lecture on Beowolf being interrupted. Tenten, like the rest of the class, looked up curiously at him, causing the poor boy to flush even more.

"Tsunade-sama wants to see a Tenten-san in her office." He mumbled, not meeting Iruka's eyes.

"Now?" inquired Iruka. Udon nodded, his eyes settling warily on Tenten. "Very well. Tenten, you may go."

Half wondering what Tsunade wanted with her and half wanting to get away, Tenten obeyed, tucking her binder into her bag and rising from her seat. She ignored the whispers that sprung up as left the room; they were mostly harmless, said out of simple curiosity, not malice.

She followed Udon, who she couldn't decide if he was _that shy_ or just quiet, all the way outside, halfway through the school, finally being deposited in front of the office.

For a moment, Tenten just stared up at the massive building in front of her, before taking a deep breath and opening the doors. Nothing had changed at all from the first day, except for perhaps being a bit more disorganized, a bit more harried atmosphere. Shizune's desk was no longer as pin neat, and was now covered with various memos and pamphlets and sticky notes. The secretary looked up at Tenten and nodded at her.

"Ah, you're here."

_Where else would I be? _Wondered Tenten, a little sarcastically. However, she still inclined her head at Shizune. "Tsunade-sama asked for me."

Shizune smiled. "That she did, Tenten-chan." The way the woman said her name, as though it was the only one she had ever heard that fit her face, discomfited Tenten a little.

"Tenten's here to see you, Tsunade." Shizune said into the phone. Tenten could faintly hear Tsunade on the other end, but couldn't make out what she was saying. Shizune nodded and said "Right away," before hanging up and turning to Tenten with a smile. "You can go in now."

"Thanks…" Tenten stared questioningly at Shizune's oddly friendly demeanor before taking a deep breath and opening the door to the office.

The first thing that her eyes took in was the sheer amount of paperwork that crowded the room. Not only was the desk almost invisible underneath the twin towers of paper, but a good deal of floor space had also been devoted to the stacks that stretched up to the ceiling. Tenten could only stare in open astonishment.

"Ah, Tenten!" Tsunade's face appeared from around a pile that seemed to have been making extraneous use of red ink, "Take a seat—I'll be right there."

Tenten could only nod dumbly and maneuvered her way around the piles to sit in the surprisingly comfortable office chair, looking warily around her.

"Ah-HAH!" Triumphant, the blonde emerged with a particularly thick book wedged under her arm. She placed it carefully at the center of the desk, before taking a seat herself.

"Sorry about that, you wouldn't believe how difficult it is to run a school. The parents, the school board, the parents, the students, the parents—they take up all of my attention. In fact, one such incident is the reason I wasn't able to talk to you yesterday. I'm sorry about that. How did practice go yesterday? Were the boys treating you all right?"

"I didn't go to practice." said Tenten, frowning in confusion.

"Oh? Why not?" Tenten's bewilderment deepened upon hearing the genuine surprise in Tsunade's voice.

"I thought I wasn't allowed to," she replied, her mind working furiously. She had come in fully expecting Tsunade to pull her off the team, or even kick her out of the school, not for her to ask why she, Tenten was skipping.

"Did I ever say you _couldn't_ remain on the team?" Tsunade inquired, fingers interlaced and her chin resting atop them, staring inquisitively at Tenten.

"I assumed—"

"The rules," Tsunade directed Tenten's attention to the thick book in front of her, now open. "Clearly indicate that a person can only be kicked off the Shinobi team if they either, a) are doing drugs, b) purposely pick fights and cause general havoc both within and outside the team, or c) have horrible grades." She closed the book with a loud snap and looked expectantly at Tenten.

"I've checked your grades and your records; both are clean. You are an exceptional student, according to the reports I've found, both real and fabricated—" she laughed at the rising blush on Tenten's cheeks. "I have to admit, I'm impressed. You were very thorough with the details, made your lies believable…very nice work." Tenten bit her lip and stared at the floor, feeling a little strange, receiving of all things _praise_ for her deception.

"And as for the drug questions, I got a good look at you the other night and I know you aren't on steroids, so you're fine."

"How would you know that I'm not on steroids?"

"You would have hair growing much thicker in places it normally shouldn't, remember? Shizune definitely would have mentioned such signs to me."

"Oh," Tenten reddened even more. "Right."

Tsunade smiled gently at her. "The point is, Tenten, that nowhere in the school rules or well, _any_ rules, say that there's a good reason for you to be kicked off the team. Sure, you've been lying to your teachers, fellow classmates, teammates, coaches, and of course me about your gender and fabricated false documents to see them through—" Tenten winced at the list, "But other than that, you have been completely honest with your records and intentions. You came here to join the Shinobi team, and you joined them, didn't you? Not so that you could sabotage them or ogle the players, but so that you could _win_. There's no real _point_ in kicking you off the team so close to the finals. It would only hurt us." She leaned back, satisfied, against the back of her chair. "Do you see what I'm saying?"

"A little…"

"Good." Tsunade pushed the rule book to the side and grabbed a thick packet of papers from the top of the pile closest to her and began scanning through it, highlighting the more important terms. "I'll expect you to keep working very hard, of course. If the school board protests, I'll just point out that we don't technically have any rules against girls as Chuunin, and besides, you're a senior and deserve to be given a chance for your last year." She looked up and smiled at Tenten. "Does that sound good?"

"Good? It's better than good, it's _great_—"

"I'm glad you think so," Tsunade cut in, "You're dismissed." Tenten stood and bowed quickly to the principal and made to leave. Just as her hand landed on the doorknob, Tsunade spoke up again. "Tenten?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?" Tenten swiveled around to face the blonde woman.

"It would be best that you just keep dressing as a boy…after the finals we'll look at getting you a girl's uniform and sorting out all of that social chaos, all right?"

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama."

"My pleasure. Don't forget, I was a Chuunin here too, once, and a damn good one." She smirked. "I think it's about time that those barriers were broken, don't you? Do it right, and your friends might gain the honor of becoming a Chuunin if they're good enough."

Tenten only nodded dumbly before turning and exiting the office. Once outside, she leaned against the door and sighed in relief, already feeling the giddiness rise up inside of her.

"Not what you expected, huh?" asked Shizune, smiling at Tenten. Tenten just stared at the young woman, wondering where the coolness from a couple days had gone.

"Not really. Have a good day, Shizune-san."

"Tenten-chan—"

"Yes?"

"I will be gone for most of this week, and I'll miss the finals, so kick ass, okay?"

Tenten blinked at the bluntness of the secretary's words, but hesitantly returned the smile.

"Thank you."

* * *

"Tsunade really said that?" Sakura paused, her chopsticks halfway to her mouth. "Seriously?"

Once again, the four girls could be found eating lunch right behind the library. Despite Lee's assurances that no one really was angry at her about her deception, she still was uncomfortable with the idea of sitting with the Shinobi team in full view of the cafeteria.

Tenten nodded in confirmation. "It was a bit weird, actually. She was treating it like something completely normal—not something to make a big deal about."

"Well, Tsunade-sama was famous as a Sannin before she came to teach here, correct?" asked Hinata rhetorically, "And she did say she wanted girls as Chuunin, right? She'll probably use you as an example case."

"You're probably right, Hinata." Tenten agreed, lying back on the grass, hands interlocked behind her head. She cast a sidelong glance at Ino, who was currently resting her head in Sakura's lap. "Anything you want to add, Ino?"

"Nope. Hinata-chan said it all. But while you were gone yesterday, all of the Jounin lectured us about how we aren't allowed to let anyone outside of school know about it." She yawned extravagantly. "Of course, everyone's going to be talking about it no matter what the teachers say, but with any luck, Mist will still just think that you're one of the guys."

"Hopefully."

"Honestly, I'm surprised that the newspapers haven't published anything," Ino continued. "I mean, this is juicy, scandalous news, perfect to grace the pages of unscrupulous tabloids, don't you think?"

"Tsunade's too scary; I bet she got the word around the school not to spill it to anyone outside of the Academy on the pain of—er, something." Sakura pointed out, plucking up a dumpling and stuffing it into Ino's mouth. As the blonde gagged and spluttered angrily at the pinkette, Tenten felt a tap on her wrist, and turned to face Hinata.

"You will come to practice today, right, Tenten-chan?" she asked, twiddling her fingers.

"Definitely. Nothing's going to keep me away."

Hinata offered a shy smile. "I'm glad. Even though we don't practice together, it's…nicer to know you are around."

Tenten smiled back. "Thanks. Um…" she hesitated, "How has Neji been acting about all this?" she blurted. Being ignored by him was driving her crazy, and her constant thoughts about what he was thinking promised to finish the job and render her completely insane.

Hinata tilted her head to the side as she considered the question. "Sulking, mostly."

"_Sulking?_"

Hinata nodded, ignoring Tenten's shocked expression. "Yes. He was pretty angry at first, but mostly when anyone brings you up all he just gets quiet and locks himself up in his room. I honestly can't tell you what's going on with him right now. I'm sorry."

"No…it's okay." She drooped, head hanging and limbs completely slack, "I guess I'll find out today when we spar, anyway."

Hinata patted her hand reassuringly. "It'll be all right, Tenten-chan."

"I hope so."

* * *

The end of the school day arrived much faster than Tenten had wanted it to. Reluctantly, she hung back in the gym, keeping to the sides of her friends, scared out of her mind about seeing the Shinobi team again. Avoiding them had been so _easy, _but now she had to grow up and brace herself for their reactions.

Much to her surprise, none of the Shinobi team really paid her any more attention than was normal, and simply went into their normal groups to spar and train. One of Ino's forceful shoves sent Tenten reluctantly to join Neji, Lee, and Gai.

"Hey guys…" she greeted them nervously, having not really talked to either boy all day. Lee grinned and gave her thumbs up; Neji continued to ignore her.

"Glad to see you rejoin us, Tenten." Gai looked at her carefully. "I assume that the Hokage has already discussed everything with you?"

"Yes she did, Gai-sensei."

"Everything?"

"Just about." Gai smiled down at her.

"Excellent. Now, today I want you and Lee to train together. Neji will be with me, for his levels of youth need adjustment."

"My levels of youth are fine." Neji glowered up at his mentor, the first time he had spoken in close proximity with Tenten. However, he still continued to ignore her presence.

Tenten had never been more grateful for Lee and his boisterous, exuberant existence than she was during that practice. To some extent she was still a little angry about Gai being the cause of her unveiled deception, even if he had had cause for concern (though the bruise under her bandages seemed to be healing just a little too well for it to have cost her an identity), and Neji was just a huge problem all on his own. Lee's proclamations of youth and lightening fast speed were much more than the perfect diversion.

When practice came to an end, as usual, Tenten left immediately. She didn't notice Kiba and Naruto calling her name, or Neji silently watching.

Later that night, while she was sitting on her sofa watching TV, her phone started ringing. Half-expecting it to be Ino, Sakura, or Hinata on the other end, she picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Is this the house of the boy-turned-Neji's-girlfriend?"

Instead, she got Kiba.

"Yes, Tenten's here. What do you want, Kiba?"

He laughed. "Calm down, calm down. I didn't mean anything by it. Actually, I was wondering why you haven't been sitting with us the past few days. Did someone smell or something?"

"…you don't think it would be awkward?" Tenten asked, a little curious.

"Ino assumed I was in love with Shino. And you. This can't possibly be any more awkward."

Tenten gaped at the phone. "Can't possibly be any worse—are you _mad? _I tricked the team, deceived the teachers, saw most of you half-naked—_how is that not worse?_"

A pause.

"Who looked the best?"

"_What?"_

"Half-naked. Which of us looked best with our shirts off?"

"…you can't expect me to answer that." Much to her own surprise, Tenten started to laugh. It was too absurd; after all her guilt just to be asked _that_ of all questions. On the other end of the line, Kiba grinned at the sound of her genuine amusement.

"Yeah, you're right. You'd probably say Neji; anyway, considering the two of your…situation, shall we call it that?"

Tenten flushed, her smile fading. "That would be the best word for it." She sighed, "He hasn't been acting very differently, has he?"

"Neji? Nah, he's pretty much the same as usual. You won't have to worry about him chewing you out at lunch or anything, if that's what you're thinking about."

"Really?"

"Really. Look, Tenten—good, I remembered it—no one is really mad at you or anything. The girls explained everything to us. You did what you had to do to achieve your goal."

"Everything?"

"Well, I don't know the whole story, so I wouldn't know, but what they told us was pretty thorough." He let out a bark of laughter, "Though I'll bet the Uchiha really wished they left out the part about Sakura kissing him as a means of distraction. He had the strangest look on his face—"

"Are you sure they don't care?"

"Well, frankly, what you did was pretty cool. Everyone's more interested in learning how you did it than getting all worked up about how you 'deceived' us or anything stupid like that."

"Really, it's fine?"

"_Yes it is._ Wow, you're acting the way Hinata did in middle school. I didn't even know that was possible for another person to be that way."

"Can you blame me?" asked Tenten, grinning.

"Probably not. So…we're cool?"

"Definitely. See you tomorrow, Kiba-kun."

"Same to you, Tennie."

"No."

"Oh come on, you gotta admit that that's gold—"

"_No."_

"You're no fun at all." groused Kiba.

"Good bye Kiba."

"Good bye."

Tenten stared at the phone in her hand, contemplating, before a wide grin spread across her features and threatened to split her face apart.

They forgave her.

They didn't care that she tricked them.

_They. Didn't. Freaking. Care._

It was funny, how that little phone call helped raise her spirits so high.

The next morning, she started interacting with the rest of the Shinobi team again.

And all was well.

Almost.

* * *

Friday came, and with it brought complete anticipation and excitement to Konoha Academy. Like the semi-finals, it dominated nearly all conversation. Unlike the semi-finals, most of the school was more interested in what would happen now that Tenten was exposed, since technically, she had lied to get her position; just not in the way athletes generally lied, with drugs to boost performance or purposefully crippling a teammate. Some thought she wouldn't be allowed to play; most thought she would simply be demoted to Genin and kept out of the crucial fights.

Neither of those rumors were right, of course. Tenten already knew from her discussion with Tsunade that she would keep her old position. But the knowledge didn't keep away her paranoia, that at any second her place would be taken from her. It was a foolish fear, but a strong one, nevertheless.

Eclipsing that, however, was the situation with Neji. He had finally stopped ignoring her, but the only words he spoke were completely neutral: questions about the weather, their classes together, etc.

It was driving her crazy. She almost preferred his careful silences. Almost. At least his willingness to talk about anything, no matter how trivial, was a step in the right direction.

* * *

One tradition of the Konoha Shinobi team was, it seemed, to go out to Ichiraku's the night before the big game as one big group, to get worked up for the upcoming games and stuff themselves. Gai and Kakashi had declared it a chance for team bonding; Kiba told her it was probably because Naruto had bullied them into it.

Either way, she didn't mind, perfectly content with the choice and just grateful for being included.

It was very crowded and noisy in Ichiraku's, though it was to be expected considering the current patrons. Three tables had been hastily put together to accommodate the team, and two waiters to serve them. Tenten had asked Hinata why that was so, only to have Naruto answer the question with a (loud) order for several bowls in succession. She was only able to stare, and had to look away quickly, to preserve her appetite.

As she ate, Tenten listened to the conversations around her, allowing her eyes to wander from time to time up and down the table. At the head of the table(s) sat the teachers; Kakashi reading his book, Gai trying to gain his attention, Kurenai and Asuma flirting—she quickly looked away, embarrassed. Further down sat Shikamaru and Ino on one side, and Chouji sitting opposite from them. Ino, as usual, was nagging Shikamaru, though she was smiling rather than snarling, while the pineapple-haired genius just pretended to ignore her. Chouji watched the show with amusement, every now and then stealing a morsel or two from his friends' bowls.

Besides them sat Hinata's group, Shino and Kiba in Chouji's row, also watching the bickering with interest, or at least Kiba was. Hinata was more interested in talking to Naruto on her other side, despite the fact he was too busy slurping to respond. He probably was listening to her, though. Sakura was teasing Sasuke, who was doing his very best to ignore her taunts and not succeeding at all. Tenten was amused to see that he had turned slightly red, which she knew was quite an achievement for the stoic Uchiha.

And then there was Neji and Lee. Lee was trying to challenge Neji to some contest (probably to see who could slurp the loudest or some other, equally silly little thing) and Neji was doing his best to ignore him.

Looking over at him, Tenten felt her smile fade from her face, and returned, somewhat gloomily, to finishing her ramen. When her bowl was empty, she excused herself from their table and went outside the restaurant for some air.

It was dark outside, and cold, though no wind was blowing. Tenten wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing them to add warmth. The Konoha district was well-lit by street lights and multi-colored, fluorescent signs advertizing all kinds of businesses, from restaurants to clothes to furniture. It was a pretty sight.

She sat down at a nearby bench, content just to watch the passerby and be by herself.

However, that state was only temporary. Barely minutes after she sat down, the doors to Ichiraku's opened and Hyuuga Neji exited, and walked right up to her.

"May I sit here?" Tenten looked up, wanting to say 'no thanks, I came out here so I wouldn't be forced into awkward conversation', but finding herself unable to do so upon seeing him standing there, hands in his coat pockets and wearing an expression that she couldn't read. Instead, she just nodded and moved over, giving unspoken consent.

"Thank you." Neji sat down, not taking his hands out of his pockets, looking straight ahead. He seemed completely unruffled in contrast to Tenten, who fiddled with the zipper on her jacket, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"So…why'd you come out here?" she asked, knowing full well how doltish she sounded, but not wanting to endure another awkward silence (though awkward conversation didn't seem to be much of an improvement).

He didn't answer.

Slightly annoyed, Tenten continued to speak, regardless of whether he answered or not. "I mean, I came out here because of how quiet it is this late at night. And it's not so hot, either. I mean, I know it's almost winter and everything but inside there is like a furnace, but maybe that's a good thing because I'm getting cold and I'll just go back inside and leave you alone—" She got up and started to walk away, but was stopped by a hand gripping her wrist.

"Yes?" she asked, resigned to whatever he had to say, probably an insult or something of that caliber.

"Apologize."

"What?" Anger flared up inside of her. What did she have to apologize for—?

"I came out here to apologize," Neji explained, gently pulling her down back on the bench. Tenten, stunned and a little suspicious, let him, "I just didn't know how I was going to start."

"Well, do you know now?"

"I think so." For the first time since she was caught, he looked straight into her eyes. Tenten stared, transfixed, before remembering herself and turning away, blushing.

"So…what for?" she mumbled, looking away.

"For…behaving the way I have." One of his hands came up to rest on her cheek and gently turned her head so that she faced him again, "I have had…much to think over, and I think I have been unfair in my behavior towards you. I'm sorry."

Tenten blushed, and took his hand from her cheek and held it in hers, studying it so she wouldn't have to look at his face as she answered.

"I owe you an apology, too. It must have been weird, finding out that I was Toyo, huh?

"It was strange, but more…embarrassing."

"Embarrassing?" Tenten looked up at the owner of the hand she was still fiddling with, confused. "How can finding out I'm Toyo be embarrassing? Except for the whole locker room thing, because that goes _beyond_ embarrassing."

Neji smiled. "I haven't thought much about that, but that would be embarrassing. No, it was embarrassing to find that I was being an ass to the very girl I was trying to initiate a relationship with."

"That would be embarrassing, yes. But, you know…" She reached out and gently touched his cool cheek, "I didn't mind you act like an ass. Actually, I kind of liked it."

He raised an eyebrow. "You did?"

"Yup," Tenten nodded, "It meant you weren't putting on a show. Nothing's wrong with acting pig-headed sometimes, and even if your ego needs some work; I loved seeing that you were still a decent guy no matter who you were around. It got sticky sometimes, but _knowing_ you made _liking_ you so much easier."

"I see," he said, voice thoughtful. "Do I know you very well?"

Tenten smiled. "Very well. Other than my gender and one or two other things, I never lied."

"Do you lie otherwise?"

"Never."

"Really?"

"Not if I can help it."

"Then tell me, Tenten, would you still want to…be with me." he spoke with anxiety and slight hope mingling on his face. For a moment she couldn't breathe.

Then, for some reason, strange even to her, she burst out into laughter.

"Yes, _of course!_" she told the ataken back, confused Neji, wheezing, "I'm not about to stop liking you, so what's with the 'still'? If anything, I would have thought that you wouldn't want me anymore!" Tears were rolling down her face, her mirth combining with a deep, intense relief.

"You are very strange, no matter what gender you are." Neji shook his head, and almost looked as though he regretted asking her anything.

"Yep." Scooting over on the bench, she snuggled into his side, resting her head on his shoulder. After a moment's hesitation, he removed one hand from his pocket and wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling her closer. A strange sort of calmness spread over them.

"You know, I had to seduce a girl here." She gestured at the restaurant behind them.

Neji's head whipped towards her, nearly banging his chin onto her forehead. "Really…what for?" he asked faintly.

"To make sure I could act like a guy in front of a big group of people. It worked…but her boyfriend got mad."

Neji snorted. "Naturally."

"It was kinda fun, though," she said off-handedly, one hand clutching at the lapel of his coat, "But in the end I prefer seducing guys."

One eyebrow quirked up. "Oh really?"

She smiled cheekily up at him. "Oh yes. Especially the ones with a severe need of an attitude adjustment."

"Isn't that convenient?" he commented drily.

"Very." The hand gripping his lapel rose and lightly gripped the back of Neji's head, pulling him down for a kiss. He responded instantly, his own arms sliding under her back and wrapping around her waist, pulling her close.

"Ah, beautiful, bountiful _YOUTH_!"

And just like that, the moment was ruined.

They broke apart, embarrassed, and with much reluctance, turned in the direction of the catcall. The sight of the eleven faces of their teammates, pressed up against the windows, greeted them. All of them had amused grins or smirks adorning their faces, having apparently been watching the entire time. Lee, Naruto, and Kiba had the audacity to give thumbs up to Neji, and even wink at the couple, before breaking out into laughter and disappearing from view.

Despite her own embarrassment, Tenten couldn't help but laugh at the blush that was rapidly spreading across Neji's face, showing up quite clearly on his pale skin and letting everyone know that yes, Hyuuga Neji was human and fully capable of emotion.

"Come on, let's go back inside." Reaching out, she took Neji's hand, allowing their fingers to interlace. He stared at their joined hands for a moment, before looking back at her. The corners of his lips lifted in a small smile as he allowed Tenten to pull him back inside, their faces flushed from more than just the cold.

The rest of the night passed the way it should, with laughter, talks, boasts, and, finally, a complete camaraderie.

With a little something extra for two of their members.

* * *

It was the day of the finals.

Unlike the week before, the weather was fairly mild; perfect for a fight.

The Shinobi team, once again, were warming up in the gym. Tenten sat between her girl friends and Neji, stretching and managing to do the center split all the way down.

"Tenten, could you _please_ stop that?" Kiba begged, "I forget you're a girl when you look like that—and do you know how painful it is for a guy to watch the splits? Splits being done by _another guy?_" He winced.

"Just keep reminding yourself that I'm a girl and we'll be fine." said Tenten with a grin, ignoring the slight to her appearance. After all, she had braided her hair (hopefully for the last time) and was wearing bandages under her uniform's shirt (which was just a good idea in any case). Thus, she did _technically_ look like a boy.

"Do you think anyone else will still think I'm a boy?" she asked Hinata besides her.

The dark-haired girl shook her head. "Unlikely. It's probably been all over the city by now."

"Yeah," added Ino, who seemed to be stretching in ways that, while effective, were probably for Shikamaru's viewing pleasure, "And if anyone has any doubts, Temari and Kankuro have a huge sign with your name and face splashed all over it, with the accompanying slogan: THIS **GIRL** WILL KICK YOUR ASS."

"Well that's subtle."

"Ah, but it's the truth, is it not?"

"Of course."

"Don't be too cocky." said Neji, smirking. Tenten just rolled her eyes at him.

"You really have no right to talk."

"I know."

"Then why are you scolding me?"

"Because I can."

"No you can't."

"Hn. I can."

"I'm ignoring you." Tenten stuck her tongue out at him.

"You do that." He just looked amused.

"Yeesh, less than a day and already Neji's lost his spine." Kiba shook his head. "Makes you wonder how much of a woobie he'll be at the end of the year, huh?" he asked Naruto, and the two troublemakers snickered at the joke. Neji's smirk slipped off his face, and he glared at Kiba.

"I am not a 'woobie'—whatever the hell _that_ is."

"Of course you're not. Yet." Kiba yelped as Neji lunged for him. The rest of the Shinobi simply ignored the insuring scuffle, focusing instead back on stretching themselves.

Finally, it was time for the game to start.

There was no pep talk this time around. The Shinobi simply lined up and began to head for the stadium, tense with excitement.

"You ready, Tenten?" asked Neji, from besides her.

Tenten grinned, and kissed him on the cheek, ignoring the chortles and whoops behind them. "Never been better." She assured him. He smiled, once, and entered the building, Tenten and the rest following close behind.

She was ready. She wasn't just going to break that ceiling, now.

Tenten was going to smash it to smithereens.

* * *

Wow…it's finally over. Hopefully, no one was too disappointed with this ending. But if anyone wants to know, they definitely won. Tenten achieved her goal.

One year ago today I posted this as my first fic here on . And honestly, I'm very surprised with the response it received. Very happy too, but it was still surprising to have so many people alert, favorite, and C2 this silly little fiction.

It has its flaws, and holes, and probably a ton of other things wrong with it, but it was fun to write and I'm glad I did.

Thanks to all of you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been half as determined.

Please let me know what you liked the best about this fic, what could have been improved, etc.

Again, thank you!


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